Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur fears he may have underestimated the challenge that Lewis Hamilton‘s move to Ferrari would bring. So far, the British driver’s debut year in Ferrari red has not yielded the desired results. Hamilton has not finished higher than fourth place in a main race. However, Vasseur has seen a few glimmers of hope in the recent Grand Prix weekends.
Lewis Hamilton is in his first year as a Ferrari driver, but so far, he has not achieved the desired results. Apart from the sprint races in China and Miami, the 40-year-old Brit has not made it to the podium. In Hungary, Hamilton even experienced a new low point when, after his disappointing qualifying on Saturday – where he did not get higher than a twelfth starting place – he even labeled himself as ‘useless’ for Ferrari.
‘Underestimated Challenge for Lewis’
Team principal Frédéric Vasseur also sees his driver struggling and comes to the following conclusion. “I think we may have underestimated the challenge for Lewis at the beginning of the season,” the Frenchman honestly tells Formula1.com. “He drove for nearly ten years at McLaren and then ten years at Mercedes, that’s almost twenty years in the Mercedes environment.” Hamilton joined the McLaren Driver Development program as early as 1998.
According to the team principal, the transition to Ferrari’s work culture was therefore larger than expected. “It was a huge change for Lewis not only in terms of culture, but also in terms of the people around him, the software, and the car,” Vasseur continues. “In every area, it was actually a big change, maybe Lewis and I underestimated this. But I am very happy, because in the last four or five races he was back in the rhythm.”
