Senior engineer reveals Lewis Hamilton Ferrari struggles ‘worse from the outside than reality’
Antoine Truchet/Ferrari
A key Ferrari insider believes the optics of the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari are worse than the reality.
The seven-time F1 World Champion has had a troubled first year with the Scuderia, with precious few highlights in amongst a series of disappointing performances as he struggled to gel with the SF-25.
Matteo Togninalli: What’s seen from the outside is worse than it is
Aside from a Sprint race victory in China in just his second weekend with the team, Hamilton went without a podium finish for Ferrari, while the Scuderia endured its fifth winless campaign of the century.
While the Ferrari was considerably less competitive than the 2024 machine, there was also a clear disparity in performance between the two drivers as Charles Leclerc scored 86 points more than his teammate.
Just one position separated the pair at year’s end, with Hamilton claiming sixth overall to Leclerc’s fifth, but the Monegasque driver was no stranger to the front row or the podium, as he racked up seven visits during the season.
The season ended on a downbeat note for Hamilton, with three consecutive Q1 exits at the final three races, as the British driver couldn’t hide his disappointment and frustration at his underperformance and inability to connect with his car.
With Hamilton speaking to the media about his travails, a pointed message from Ferrari chairman John Elkann added to the pressure as he urged his drivers to “speak less and concentrate on driving”; a message seemingly targeted more at Hamilton than Leclerc.
With 2026 representing a completely fresh start for driver and team as the regulations move away from ground-effect, Ferrari’s head of track engineering, Matteo Togninalli, believes the relationship between Hamilton and Ferrari is much stronger than it may appear externally.
“I’m sure you are all aware, but for the driver changing team, mainly for a driver like Lewis, who spent 10 years in the same team, has a certain level of experience…” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com, in Qatar.
“It is very difficult for both sides, for the driver and for the team, because every team is operating in a slightly different way.
“You are used to certain people. You are used to doing things in a certain way.
“Then, if you put this in context, Lewis was fighting for world championships, and it’s a fact this year, we didn’t achieve the target of fighting for the world championship.
“So you put the frustration in this, creating the situation.
“I think what you see from the outside is much worse than what it is.
“I think the relationship with Lewis, what we are building with Lewis, is extremely positive.”
Ending the first year together, Togninalli said he believes the working relationship has improved in leaps and bounds since the start of the season.
“If you put it in context again, you spend 10 years in the same team with the same people, and, after 10 months, I think we already have a very, very strong team,” he said.
“Nevertheless, the frustration, the results are creating this image of ourselves and of Ferrari that I believe is much, much worse than what is real.
“While frustrating, the parties accept that we need some time to adapt to each other.
“I don’t think the relationship is as bad as you all think, but I’m sure, with time, we can improve. So, results is the best help for us. Giving the performing car and results, I think, is fundamental. We are racers, he is a racer, so the frustration when we lose is massive.”
As for Hamilton, he didn’t hide his pleasure at seeing the ground-effect era come to an end, after four years in which the seven-time F1 World Champion had struggled to make a lasting impact.
“There’s not a single thing I’ll miss about these cars, simple as that,” he said in Abu Dhabi.
His motivation to turn things around from a tough 2025 is evident.
Having spoken during the season about his writing down of ideas and feedback to present documentation to Ferrari, calling upon his own experiences of working with Mercedes for 10 years, Hamilton said he intends to refine his working arrangements with the Scuderia over the winter.
“I think we just need to analyse where we’ve been, what’s been good, and areas that we can improve on,” he said.
“I’ve highlighted [them], I know where they all are. It’s sitting down with the team at the end of the year.
“It’s looking at, internally, my personal team, away from the track, and see what we can do more to make it more efficient with timing and traveling and all these different things, and I’ll do the same with the team.”
Having ruled out the possibility of a shock retirement after his first season with Ferrari, as some fans and media had speculated, Hamilton revealed where he draws his continued motivation to succeed.
“It’s the love for what you do. It’s love for racing,” he said.
“It’s an amazing support from people around me, my fans. It’s that constant keeping an eye on the dream. I still have a dream.
“That’s what I hold hope in my heart for, and that’s what I work towards.”
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