Lewis Hamilton ‘not like Carlos Sainz’ as Ferrari make ‘naive’ admission

Ferrari “naively” assumed that Lewis Hamilton would adapt to life at Maranello relatively seamlessly. 

That is the admission made by team principal Fred Vasseur, who has since discovered that Hamilton is “not like Carlos Sainz”, who has been around the houses in his Formula 1 career.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari: A slow-burner waiting to flourish?

Hamilton sent shockwaves through the world of Formula 1 when he announced – before the 2024 campaign began – that he would swap Mercedes for Ferrari come F1 2025.

Turning 40 ahead of his debut in red, Hamilton walked into a new and unique culture. It was also to be his first experience of using a non-Mercedes F1 engine.

Thus far, the results have been underwhelming. Hamilton is 42 points behind teammate Charles Leclerc at the summer break, and is yet to make the podium. Leclerc has done so five times.

It has led team principal Vasseur to compare Hamilton’s bumpy road of adaptation to what Ferrari experienced with Sainz, the driver who Hamilton replaced.

Joining Ferrari was only the second team swap in Hamilton’s record-breaking F1 career. Sainz, meanwhile, had represented Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren before joining Ferrari. He joined Williams for F1 2025 when his seat was taken by Hamilton.

“Looking back, I have to admit that we, by which I mean Lewis and I, underestimated the change to a different environment,” Vasseur admitted to Auto Motor und Sport.

“He had been with the same team for 18 years, if I can call McLaren and Mercedes home. It was an English team, and the engine environment always remained the same. There is a bigger difference between Ferrari and Mercedes than between Mercedes and McLaren.

“When Lewis arrived at Ferrari, we naively thought that he would have everything under control. He is not like Carlos Sainz, who changes teams every few years and is familiar with the process.”

“It took Lewis four to five races to get the situation under control,” Vasseur continued. “Since the Canadian Grand Prix, he has actually been on track.”

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc head-to-head in F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Hamilton suffered an unwanted setback in Hungary, the final round before the summer break.

After dropping out in Q2 while Leclerc took pole – and suggesting Ferrari “change driver” – Hamilton called himself “useless” in soundbites that were similar to the downbeat self-assessments from his final year at Mercedes.

He also made reference to things going on in the “background” at Ferrari which were “not great.”

“Stay calm,” Vasseur answered when asked how Ferrari can go about making Hamilton feel truly comfortable. “Build on the fact that he has already taken the first step.

“Don’t let things like what happened in Budapest get you down. Lewis is very self-critical. He is always extreme in his reactions. Sometimes he is too hard on the car, sometimes on himself.

“He wants to get the most out of himself and everyone in the team. You have to calm him down and explain to him that in Q2 he was only a tenth of a second behind the driver who later took pole position. That’s no big deal. The message he sends out only makes things worse.

“Most of the time, he’s only that extreme with the press. By the time he comes into the briefing room, he’s usually calmed down again. That’s just his way. For me, it’s no big deal.

“He demands a lot. From others, but also from himself. I can live with that. Nico Hülkenberg was the same when he drove for me in Formula 3. He demanded an awful lot from the team. But he was also there every morning at 6.30 a.m.”

Hamilton signed a multi-year Ferrari deal which is widely believed to run until the end of F1 2026. With sweeping changes coming to the regulations for 2026, that could be Hamilton’s golden opportunity to challenge for his record eighth World Championship.

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