Lewis Hamilton documents trigger ‘worried’ Vettel reveal from ex-Aston Martin figure

Lewis Hamilton and his series of Ferrari documents, had Bernie Collins recalling when she was “worried” about the arrival of Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin.

Then Aston Martin’s strategy chief, Collins held a perception that Vettel was critical often of strategies. But, they worked with Vettel to get the best out of both sides. Seeing Hamilton now giving his suggestions for Ferrari to improve, Collins pondered the potential impacts should Hamilton not feel he is being listened to.

Lewis Hamilton documents compared to Vettel at Aston Martin

Hamilton struggled to impress across his first season with Ferrari. His China Sprint win from pole was one of precious few highlights, as Hamilton recorded his first podiumless season in F1, upon his blockbuster switch from Mercedes to Ferrari.

Hamilton has been busy behind the scenes, submitting a series of documents, looking to guide Ferrari in the right direction to improve.

In addition to the driving difficulties, Hamilton also found himself in some spiky exchanges with race engineer Riccardo Adami. Ferrari chairman John Elkann, meanwhile, turned heads with his “focus on driving, talk less” message to his Ferrari drivers following the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Speaking on Sky F1, Collins made a comparison to when four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel arrived at Aston Martin in 2021, following his Ferrari departure.

“When Sebastian Vettel came to Aston Martin, I was worried about it,” she admitted.

“He had always been so critical on the radio of strategy.

“But, he came, he watched a few races, he looked at how we’d done things, and then he started, like Lewis did, to give suggestions, give improvements. Say, ‘Why don’t you consider doing it like this’.

“But, at all the points that we were working together, ‘Okay, let’s take the best from both teams and try and get the best solution we can’.

“And if Lewis doesn’t feel like he’s being listened to, if he doesn’t feel like those improvements are coming, then, how does he see the future progression? If you don’t see change happening, then is it going to get any better?”

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One theory surrounding Hamilton’s slow start to Ferrari life is the challenge of adapting. He has stepped into a totally new culture at Ferrari, essentially Italy’s national team, with limited familiar faces joining him.

Hamilton’s relationship with team boss Fred Vasseur does go back to Hamilton’s pre-F1 days, when he was winning junior titles with Vasseur’s team. Ferrari’s chassis technical director, Loïc Serra, meanwhile, is very familiar with Hamilton from their Mercedes days together.

One key figure from Hamilton’s record-breaking days, long-serving race engineer Peter Bonnington, is an example of an ally who did not follow Hamilton to Ferrari, requiring him to work with a new figure in Adami.

“Bono’s got a family in the UK. He’s never going to move all of those guys to Italy,” Collins noted.

“So he knew he was going to have this new challenge, these new people.

“But, you need to feel they are your family. You spend 24 race weekends, all year with them. All the tests, the simulator running in between. So you need to feel like your team is your team. They’re working to get the best out of you, and that car that they’ve been given.

“You can’t, over a race weekend, change the car, but you can work to improve it, race on race on race.

“It’s not quite gelled together there yet. They’re not quite all aligned, I don’t think.”

Vasseur admitted that Hamilton’s Ferrari adaptation has been tougher than anticipated.

“I think perhaps… We underestimated, for sure, the change of culture, the change of people around him, the change of everything,” Vasseur is quoted by RacingNews365.

“And even if we came back at a decent pace, I’m not speaking about classification, I’m speaking about collaboration and understanding of the car in the last part of the season, I think it was tough.”

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