Hamilton offers update on his integration into Ferrari's special environment
Despite his current struggles behind the wheel of Ferrari's SF25, Hamilton stressed that the Maranello-based outfit has been supportive and has given its all to make the integration process easier for him.
Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes at the end of previous season to join Ferrari for 2025. The seven-time F1 champion suffered a rocky start to the current season, having struggled for pace in Australia.
However, the Briton went on to secure pole position for the Shanghai sprint before dominating the 19-lap race. The following Suzuka round turned out to be a difficult weekend for Hamilton as he struggled for pace in qualifying while he also suffered from higher tyre degradation than his direct rivals experienced.
The 40-year-old then appeared to be more comfortable in his SF-25 in Bahrain, but he failed to put a good lap together in the last qualifying segment, ending up only ninth on the grid. However, he finally displayed encouraging race pace at the Bahrain Grand Prix, pursuing an offset strategy to move up to grid to a fifth-place finish thanks to a series of brilliant overtaking manoeuvres.
Although Ferrari struggled for pace last time out in Miami, the seven-time F1 champion displayed a clear step forward both in qualifying trim and in race trim, showing a more promising pace in all conditions and delivering an improved tyre management.
Asked whether he enjoys himself when he visits Ferrari's Maranello-based factory, Hamilton has revealed that he likes Italy so much that he will try to find a way to spend more time there.
"Yeah, I love it. Trying to stay off the pizzas and the pasta, which I'm not doing very well with if I'm honest. I was there last week and had like three pizzas in two days. I have my hookup – he keeps bringing me a pizza.
"I text him late after the day and I'm like, "Hey, can I get a pizza?" He keeps bringing me one. But yeah, I really am enjoying it. Not living in Italy currently, but or spending more time is still something I really want to try and figure out how to do through the year.
Although Hamilton started to learn Italian, he has concede that "my Italian is not really progressing, so I've probably got to throw myself more into the thick of it."
Despite his current struggles behind the wheel of Ferrari's SF25, Hamilton stressed that the Maranello-based outfit has been supportive and has given its all to make the integration process easier for him.
"But the team's been well. Lots of changes, a huge amount of work has been going on from my first days there to adjust certain things, for example in the sim, and everyone’s been really responsive and massively supportive. So I’ve really appreciated it."
