Lewis Hamilton warned of Ferrari challenge he cannot ‘underestimate’

Oliver Harden
Lewis Hamilton smiles and holds his hand to his chest as he greets fans at Fiorano while wearing a Ferrari team coat

Lewis Hamilton greeted the fans at Fiorano after his first Ferrari test

A key ally of Max Verstappen has warned new Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton that he cannot “underestimate” the challenge of adapting to a new F1 team.

Hamilton completed his first test behind the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car on Wednesday, accumulating around 30 laps at the team’s Fiorano test track.

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The seven-time World Champion’s move to Ferrari represents only the second team switch of his illustrious career, with his only previous transfer occurring in 2013 when he swapped McLaren for Mercedes.

Over the course of a 12-year stint with Mercedes, Hamilton cemented his status as the most successful driver in F1 history, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of seven titles in 2020 before becoming the first man to surpass 100 race wins and pole positions the following year.

Hamilton, who turned 40 earlier this month, remains hopeful of adding an eighth title to his collection, having been denied the 2021 crown in highly controversial circumstances as Verstappen, the Red Bull driver, secured the first of four consecutive World Championships.

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Giedo van der Garde, who enjoyed a brief F1 career with the now-defunct Caterham team in 2013, is known to be a close ally to Verstappen, having spent plenty of time with his fellow Dutchman during the reigning World Champion’s rise through the racing ranks as a youngster.

And he believes the biggest challenge facing Hamilton is to adapt to a new way of working at Ferrari, having grown accustomed to the culture and systems at Mercedes.

In a post on Instagram, Van der Garde wrote: “New team, different mentality and a – to him – new passionate Italian approach. New engineer too.

“It’ll be interesting to see how quickly he adapts, because don’t underestimate when you’ve been at another team so long.

“The steering wheel, the factory, the team. I’m sure with his experience, he’ll do well.

“But my gut feeling says it’s gonna be a hell of a season.

“And, great to see you in red, Lewis!”

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Van der Garde’s comments come after Benedetto Vigna, the chief executive of Ferrari, praised Hamilton’s willingness to embrace a new culture at such an advanced stage of his career.

Vigna said: “There is excitement, there is a great desire to start, to face the tests.

“Change is always important and Hamilton has put himself back into the game.

“I loved reading his post on Linkedin at the start of the year, a powerful message not to give up hope in all areas.

“With him and Charles [Leclerc] we will have fun.

“A guy who has won seven titles can transfer so much. If I talk to Fred [Vasseur, team principal] he emphasises his ability to give technical guidance, but not only that.

“He has a great desire for change, he’s not afraid.

“At the age of 40 he has put himself back into the game. He has embraced a different culture in many ways, compared to the Anglo-Saxon one.

“To me that post on Linkedin reminded me of when Indro Montanelli [famous Italian journalist who founded the La Voce newspaper aged 85 following a disagreement with Silvio Berlusconi in 1994] decided to change at the age of 80.

“I found it beautiful.”