Exclusive: An insight into Lewis Hamilton and his mindset at Ferrari as the seven-time Formula 1 champion continues to find it difficult to produce his best form since joining the Scuderia
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari struggles have been compared to Damon Hill’s final Formula 1 season in which the Brit found it “increasingly difficult to win”. The seven-time F1 champion joined up with the sport’s most famous team at the start of this year to huge fanfare.
But the performances on track have hardly matched the level of hype off it. Other than a Sprint race victory in China, his results have left a lot to be desired and Hamilton has yet to stand on an F1 podium for Ferrari at the end of a full-length Grand Prix.
His results have led to some particularly glum comments being made by Hamilton himself at times this year, but F1 pundit and former Red Bull executive Mark Gallagher is not sure everyone should take such comments and interviews at face value.
“The thing is with Lewis, my read of the situation is that people shouldn’t be too quick to jump to a conclusion just because of him being downbeat about the car’s performance, about the fact that he has to now endure Grand Prix, where he knows he cannot win,” he told Mirror Sport, via Betway.
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“In fact, he knows he cannot even really consistently compete for podium finishes. This is essentially new territory for Lewis in recent years. Mercedes took a wrong turn with their car development from 2022 onwards. He’s had a very difficult time there. Lewis has then gone to Ferrari and, of course, Lewis just races to win.
“He’s not there to finish fifth for sixth or eighth or whatever. One of the interesting aspects of working in Formula 1 for a long time, which, I’ve been very privileged to do, is you get to see how world champions, like Lewis behave when they find themselves in a car that’s not competitive.”
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To illustrate his point, Gallagher brought up the example of Hill who won the 1996 F1 title with Williams but then moved to less competitive teams and, three years later, retired from the sport having grown frustrated with his lack of opportunities to fight at the front of the grid.
He added: “Damon Hill was a World champion, a great British World champion. He drove ferocious in the first Grand Prix and I know I’m going back into ancient history but Damon had a very difficult 1999 season, which was his final year of Formula 1.
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“Part of that was he got himself into a mindset where he felt it was increasingly difficult to win. I remember talking to him about it and him saying to me, if you turn up every weekend knowing that you have the chance to win the race on Sunday, it quite naturally gives you a completely different approach.
“Compared to when you turn up for a race weekend, knowing that you’re going to qualify on the fifth or fourth row of the grid. The biggest hope you have is that you might get some decent points or maybe even squeak on to the podiums.”
