Secret paperwork and a rallying cry: How Lewis Hamilton is attempting to revive Ferrari F1

Previous to a Belgian Grand Prix weekend to neglect for Lewis Hamilton, whose final F1 win got here right here a yr in the past with Mercedes, the query posed to the Ferrari driver with out a podium to his identify this yr was an innocuous one. His reply, nonetheless, was an unyielding message to his beleaguered Ferrari staff.

Requested whether or not he’d been on the Maranello manufacturing facility in the previous few weeks, Hamilton replied that he had. A “couple of days every week”, he detailed. Then, untriggered, the British driver, typically so reluctant to disclose the internal workings of his thoughts, went into full disclosure mode.

“I’ve referred to as on a lot of conferences with the heads of the staff, so I’ve sat with John [Elkann], Benedetto [Vigna] and Fred [Vasseur],” Hamilton stated, referring to the Ferrari chair, CEO and staff principal – the three-pronged government staff who lured the 40-year-old to the Scuderia.

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“I’ve sat with the top of our automobile improvement, with Loic [Serra], but in addition with the heads of various departments, speaking concerning the engine for subsequent yr, speaking about entrance suspension for subsequent yr, speaking about rear suspension for subsequent yr.

“I’ve despatched paperwork; I’ve completed [that] by means of the yr. After the primary few races I did a full doc for the staff, then throughout this break I had one other two paperwork that I despatched in, and they also would are available and wish to tackle these.”

Fairly other than the considerably amusing hypothetical picture of seven-time world champion Hamilton sitting astutely at a desk, hunched over a laptop computer firing off emails to decision-makers and engineers, his phrases converse volumes as to the present state of the once-great Italian outfit.

As a result of the Brit, having spent 18 seasons at McLaren (one title) and Mercedes (six titles), is aware of a factor or two about profitable motor-racing groups. And it goes past the simplicity of a fast driver within the cockpit, or speedy equipment at his fingertips. It’s the entire organisation, working in good concord, in the direction of a standard aim.

Hamilton spoke of “structural changes” inside the Ferrari F1 staff, alongside points with the automobile that have to be modified for 2026, when new engine and chassis laws come into play. An period within the sport that’s prone to be Hamilton’s final. And one during which his former staff Mercedes – alongside their engine companions McLaren and Williams – appear best-placed for a revival, in distinction to Ferrari.

After all, 13 races right into a 2025 season dominated by McLaren, Hamilton already has all his horizons set on subsequent yr. Ferrari introduced their final main improve of the season to Spa – a brand new rear suspension – and whereas Charles Leclerc salvaged a decent podium in Sunday’s grand prix, Hamilton had a torrid few days within the Ardennes forest.

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In follow, he impeded a variety of drivers on the prime of Eau Rouge. Then, in dash race qualifying, he spun on his ultimate lap, on the ultimate chicane, attributable to a rear brake situation. Hamilton, baffled within the media pen afterwards, insisted that such a problem had “by no means occurred to him earlier than” in his 19-year F1 profession.

It meant the Saturday dash race was a write-off as he completed sixteenth, earlier than an error in qualifying, taking his automobile exterior the remits of the white strains, meant he was eradicated in Q1 for the second day operating. By this stage, Hamilton was already penning this one off as a “weekend to neglect”.

However on Sunday, sparks of life. Beginning within the pit lane, Hamilton stormed up the sphere as the primary driver to make the right name and change to dry tyres, and made up 11 locations to complete seventh. He was voted driver of the day. However calls from the pit wall to “raise and coast” – curbing his means to go full throttle on straights – spotlight extra points for this SF-25 Ferrari automobile.

All of this has positioned Vasseur underneath immense stress in the beginning of the season. Requested by The Impartial concerning the morale of the staff, and Hamilton, on Sunday night, Ferrari’s staff principal replied: “It’s not the consequence we have been anticipating with Lewis, but it surely’s a part of the lifetime of a racing staff to react collectively very nicely.

“It was an excellent restoration for him. For positive, we’ve got to do a greater job to attain podiums or wins; you may’t let one session get away. We’ve to make a step subsequent week, however we’re all pushing in the identical route.”

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The numbers, nonetheless, make for grim studying for Hamilton. In his first yr in pink, it’s his worst ever begin to an F1 season. Whereas Leclerc has picked up 5 top-three finishes this yr, Hamilton’s finest consequence stays fourth. Within the 11 remaining races, Hamilton will likely be determined to not grow to be the primary Ferrari driver since Kimi Raikkonen in 2014 to not file a podium all season. It’s not simply concerning the automobile, both. Hamilton admits that his qualifying shows, very like his ultimate season for Mercedes, haven’t been as much as scratch.

But the larger image – as is the consensus up and down the paddock for each staff aside from McLaren – is that this season not issues. Subsequent yr will give the primary indications of who will dominate the subsequent technology. And as Hamilton acknowledged pre-race in Spa, in one thing that amounted to a rallying cry for the 1000’s of Ferrari personnel in Maranello, it’s “crunch time” for the Brit in his deep-rooted quest for an eighth world championship.

“I really feel that it’s my job to problem completely each space,” he stated. “In case you have a look at the staff during the last 20 years, they’ve had superb drivers. Fernando, Sebastian, all world champions. Nonetheless, they didn’t win a world championship, and for me, I refuse for that to be the case. I’m going the additional mile.”

However past that decision to arms, his most telling assertion was as follows: “I’m very lucky to have had experiences in two different nice groups, and issues are for positive going to be totally different.

“I feel, generally, when you take the identical path on a regular basis, you get the identical outcomes. So, I’m simply difficult sure issues.” And as a headline in Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport learn three weeks in the past, it’s now time for Ferrari to hearken to Lewis Hamilton.