Sebastian Vettel has come to the defense of Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion has had a less than stellar start to his new role at Ferrari, with a victory in the China sprint race being his best result so far. Vettel, who himself has driven for the Italian team, doesn’t find it surprising that Hamilton is still adjusting and therefore not yet performing at his peak.
Lewis Hamilton is not having the dream start to his adventure at Ferrari. The Brit currently has 25 points to his name, placing him seventh in the drivers’ championship. Hamilton is trailing behind his successor at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Sebastian Vettel, who also drove for Scuderia between 2015 and 2020, understands why the seven-time world champion is still adjusting.
“It’s a big step, a big change in the (work) culture too,” Vettel tells Sky Sport F1 about Hamilton’s current situation. “At the moment, I think Hamilton is very much focused on racing and the car. But adapting to a new team is not just about driving. The steering wheel, for example. He has already adjusted it, but it’s still a very different model than what he had (at Mercedes).”
Vettel, therefore, does not find it surprising that Hamilton is not yet able to compete at the top of the field. “He needs time to adjust, and it also requires a lot of mental capacity. Capacity that would otherwise be available for racing,” he said.
‘That gnaws at you’
Hamilton came to the Ferrari team with high ambitions, but for now, he does not seem to be contending for the title. Vettel himself won the Grand Prix fourteen times as a driver for the Italian team, but could not add a fifth title to his list of achievements. The German, therefore, expects that Hamilton is currently disappointed with his performance in the SF-25.
“I know he has a lot of ambition and very high expectations. He is probably not happy with himself at the moment, with how competitive he is. That gnaws at you. But he is not without reason the most successful driver ever. He is working extremely hard to solve all the problems, and to reach a level he is happy with,” Vettel concludes.
