The initial wave of excitement surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has started to settle, giving way to more realistic assessments. As the season opener approaches, the focus has shifted to the challenges he may face, including a smooth transition.
Hamilton has been asked by many to familiarize himself with the team’s culture. And he’s putting in extensive efforts to do just that and also get up to speed with the mechanical package, considering he’s never driven a Ferrari-powered car in F1 before.
Former Ferrari driver and one of Hamilton’s close friends, Sebastian Vettel recently underscored the same sentiment. “Anyone who changes teams takes a big step. It’s a different culture. Obviously, most of the teams are English, only two are Italian. That’s probably the biggest change,” Vettel said.
Hamilton knows adapting to the move will be tough. He spent the last 12 years at Mercedes, a team based in his home country, the UK. However, he has also gained enough experience to take on the challenge.
“I am under no assumptions that it will be easy, it is not. But I don’t feel the pressure,” the 40-year-old said in the Australian GP press conference. Having spent years at the top of F1, facing the heat of the battle, Hamilton knows that he needs to focus on himself rather than pay heed to the outside noise.
“The outside pressure is non-existent to me, the pressure is within, what I want to achieve. I don’t have to prove anything to anybody,” he added.
Hamilton further claimed how he prefers to stay in a ‘bubble’ of his own, avoiding the chatter on social media surrounding his high-profile move to Ferrari. “I don’t read the news, and I go long periods of time without social media…”
Anything short of a title win will be a failure for Hamilton and Ferrari. It most certainly won’t be an easy task, but the Briton knows what he is doing.
“I know what I can bring” – Hamilton
While Ferrari presents multiple challenges for the seven-time world champion, he is no stranger to the sport. He may be a bit tentative at first, adapting to Ferrari power and the nuances of the red car, but nothing is likely to hold back his skill for long.
Catching up with the team pic.twitter.com/iMSqwSbmbo
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 13, 2025
Ahead of the season opener, Hamilton has been analyzing Ferrari’s engine data and last year’s telemetry to understand where he needs to adapt. While he joked that the data felt a bit alien to him due to his long history with Mercedes power units, he is embracing the challenge and confident in his ability to make a difference at Ferrari.
He said,
“I know what I can bring. I know I can deliver. I know what it’s going to take to do that. And it’s just getting your head down and working away. So I come with a very open mind coming in this weekend.”
If anyone can adapt quickly to a new team, it’s Hamilton. Though he has only made such a move once before — joining Mercedes in 2013 — what followed was a dominant era of championship success. Time will tell if he can recreate that magic with Scuderia Ferrari.
