Sebastian Vettel reveals Lewis Hamilton Ferrari advice after his own ‘mistake’
Lewis Hamilton received advice from Sebastian Vettel ahead of his Ferrari move.
Sebastian Vettel revealed the only advice he gave to Lewis Hamilton prior to his move to Ferrari was to learn Italian, and immerse himself in Italian culture.
Hamilton revealed ahead of the 2025 season that he had been taking Italian lessons in order to better communicate with his new team members, and Vettel explained his own “mistake” was not learning the language in a “perfect” manner.
Vettel: ‘Only advice’ for Lewis Hamilton was to learn Italian for Ferrari move
It has long been an unspoken rule that drivers who move to Ferrari are, if not expected, hoped to speak or learn Italian to be able to make the most of their time with the Scuderia.
The language of the Formula 1 paddock is English, and remains so behind closed doors at most teams at different levels, with Ferrari also not being excepted from this practice.
Vettel, who drove for the Scuderia between 2015 and 2020, explained his own ability to have been able to adapt to the English language from a young age, as the language was spoken throughout junior paddocks as well as in Formula 1. For Hamilton, he explained he has still had to adapt for his new surroundings, but Vettel explained his own regrets at not speaking Italian fluently, and not believing he spent enough time in Italy to truly embrace the team’s “heart and culture.”
While Hamilton is learning Italian, Vettel believes that “exposing yourself to the culture” will help make things fall into place for the seven-time world champion at the Scuderia.
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Asked for his opinion on his time at Ferrari as a whole, he told the Beyond the Grid podcast: “Different. Very different. I loved it, I don’t regret it, and I had a fantastic time.
“To put this into context, I’m German. My mother tongue is German, and very quickly it got international because I was racing international.
“I started with an Italian team [in F1], Swiss-German sort of team, then Italian team, but let’s say British teams, and language was always English. And culture, in a way, was, I would say, the majority English. And then I adapted, and I loved it.
“I loved the British humour, I loved the British people, I love a lot of things about it, the racing, the approach, but in a way, I think I adapted.
“Now I don’t want to say that Lewis didn’t adapt, or British drivers do not have to adapt. Of course you have to adapt, and of course you’re travelling the world, and of course you’re seeing things and learning, but I don’t know how it is or how it would have been had my mother tongue been English, and I’m not comfortable in a foreign language, and then moving somewhere else.
“Now for Lewis, obviously, it happens to be the international language is English. He was with a British team. Every team is different, very different, and he’s been with Mercedes for a long, long time, and then the move to Ferrari, for sure, it’s going to be a huge difference, because the heart and the culture of the team is Italian, [but] the language is English.
“I mean, he understands everybody in the team, but there are also employees that he doesn’t understand because they don’t speak English, or they don’t speak English very well.
“If you don’t speak a language very well, you know yourself, you get along, but do you really get the people and do you get the culture? And I think that’s a crucial, yeah… mistake that I’ve done. Looking back, I learned Italian, I took classes, and I sort of got along and I understood, but I wasn’t perfect.
“I should have really studied Italian more, maybe also spend more time in Italy to really understand the culture more, because culture is also the people. And I told Lewis before, when he made the move, I said, ‘The only advice I can give you, the best advice I can give you is learn the language. Learn it really, really well.’
“The way to learn a language is you have to expose yourself so you start to speak to the people, you are in the country where they speak the language, so you’re exposing yourself to the culture. So the rest will then fall into place.
“Now, of course, with racing and when you talk about your setup and so on, you could argue it’s irrelevant. It is irrelevant, but for the bigger picture, to get the culture and the spirit, it is so important.”
Hamilton has not yet registered a podium finish in a grand prix with Ferrari, and Vettel explained the relief he felt at winning his first race with the team in Malaysia in 2015, but stressed Hamilton still has the ability to perform.
“The longer it takes, the harder it becomes,” Vettel admitted.
“He has the incredible ability to reflect the situation he’s in now, struggles he might have, and I think he’s still in a point of his life where this is what he wants to do.
“I think he has a fair shot from his performance, but a lot of things need to come together.
“You need to have the team, you need to have the people, you need the timing to be on the sweet spot. So it would be great, and I think he deserves if it comes together, but we will find out.”
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