Lewis Hamilton hails Ferrari’s feel as the best in years but admits adaptation is ongoing ahead of his much-anticipated debut with the team.
Winter testing is already over for Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari, marking the time for an initial assessment of the Briton’s collaboration with the Reds—an extremely positive one so far.
Hamilton faces a steep adaptation curve, but according to him, the process is going well. However, any definitive judgment will have to wait until the first Grands Prix.
“Over the past four years, I’ve learned that you can’t judge too much from a first impression.”
“With the previous generation of cars, it was much easier to get an early sense of where you stood in terms of feeling.”
“But I’d say this is the most positive feeling I’ve had in a long time.”
The next time Hamilton gets behind the wheel of a Ferrari will be in Melbourne for the first Grand Prix. Is it too soon?
“It’s a very short timeframe for everyone, but these few days in the car are crucial. We’re simply focusing on doing the best we can with what we have and understanding the package at our disposal.”
“For my part, I’m learning more and more about how the team likes to operate, and we’re making small adjustments here and there to improve both my efficiency and our collaboration. It’s very positive.”
Hamilton acknowledged having “built a very good foundation” with his new team, but there is still plenty of room for progress.
“Personally, I like diving straight into the deep end and figuring things out as I go. That’s what we’ve done. We’ve followed the processes and really tried to… I think, in this timeframe, we’ve built a very solid foundation.”
“But everyone knows the guys on the other side are really, really fast and highly competitive.”
“Everything seems very, very tight. We might not truly know where we stand until race week, but we do know there’s still work to be done.”
“Everyone is focused, and I’ve been really inspired and encouraged by that.”
“My teammates… the way the leaders are involved, how hard everyone is working. Getting to know the people in the garage, the night shift team, their processes, and the way they operate.”
Even though he has never been a big fan of winter testing, Lewis Hamilton admits with a smile that he wouldn’t have minded a little extra time this year.
“No, I’m still not a fan of testing, but I really enjoyed the sessions I had this year.”
“I’m extremely grateful for the TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) sessions I was able to do and, honestly… if I had only had this day and a half, I definitely wouldn’t be in the position I am today in terms of comfort with the car.”
Today, excitement outweighs apprehension for the seven-time world champion.
“There’s still a long way to go, but at this stage, I’m just excited to race.”
“I feel like there’s still so much more to come.”
“Fortunately, I got to drive the 2023 car, so I was really able to compare the 2024 car with last year’s, see where they’ve improved and the progress they’ve made.”
“Obviously, I couldn’t do the 2024 end-of-year test. So, I started relatively late compared to others who arrived before me, like Sebastian [Vettel]—he was here as early as late November [2014], he had a solid two months.”
“Whereas for me, everything has been condensed into a month.”
Adjusting to a Car with a “Very Different Character”
As Lewis Hamilton reiterates, switching from a Mercedes engine to a Ferrari power unit is like scaling the Himalayas. A change in engine brings many other changes, he emphasizes.
But do the Mercedes F1 and the Ferrari share any similarities?
“They are both very well-built and have very different characteristics.”
“Rather than just switching from one car to another and having exactly the same thing, it’s refreshing to have something different, to learn new driving techniques, new demands in corner approach.”
“The engine has a different sound, a different feel, a different smoothness in power delivery.”
“I drove a Mercedes engine for so long—it was an excellent engine—and it’s great to see that Ferrari also has a very strong power unit.”
“I’m spending time with the engine department engineers to understand how they work on reliability and power.”
“It’s a process in itself, but so far, it’s been a really great experience.”
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Hamilton’s Ferrari Era Begins: A Positive Start, Big Task Hamilton’s Ferrari Era Begins: A Positive Start, Big Task Hamilton’s Ferrari Era Begins: A Positive Start, Big Task
