Lewis Hamilton said it will be difficult for him to adjust his driving style the way he needs to in order to get the best out of Ferrari’s car this year.
He was encouraged by his performance during parts of last week’s Bahrain Grand Prix but said he will have to work hard to ensure he does not slip back into old habits this weekend.“Every driver has a driving style and my driving style has worked for many, many years,” he told the official F1 channel. “Naturally, you adapt it a little bit over time, but this one needs a bit more of a drastic shift.
“I found a couple of things that worked in the last race. Implementing that everywhere I go will be a challenge and I know that, particularly when you’re in qualifying and you really need to push to get that extra bit, I can imagine myself falling straight back to my old ways.
“So that’s something I’m just going to have to really stay patient with and diligent with which I’m going to start from tomorrow.”
He said his team mate Charles Leclerc’s years of experience driving Ferrari’s cars allows him to go into each weekend with a good starting point for his car’s set-up.
“Charles has obviously driven this car for a long time and the driving style he has worked perfectly with the car,” said Hamilton. “He loves sliding the rears. He likes a really oversteery car, which is really impressive to see.
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“From the moment we get there at the weekend, he doesn’t really change the car a huge amount. They kind of know where to start from the previous years.
“I’ve tried pretty much everything now with the car, so I’ve learnt what does and pretty much doesn’t work. And then in terms of the inputs that I put into the car, I’m adjusting those to hopefully start to extract more performance from it. I hope that I can do it this weekend, but we’ll see.”
Hamilton said the high-speed nature of the Jeddah circuit means he will have to play himself in over the practice sessions in order to apply what he’s learned about the SF-25 so far.
“My focus this weekend is driving style, really getting on top of the circuit, getting into a rhythm,” he said. “This is a circuit where, a bit like Monaco or Baku, you have to get into a rhythm as early as possible and then just make incremental gains from there and not be over-driving et cetera.
“So I’ve got a lot of work to do to adapt the way that I approach corners but it’s not impossible. It might just take a little bit of time but hopefully not too long.”
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2025 Bahrain Grand Prix
- Hamilton making “drastic shift” in driving style to master Ferrari’s car
- Leclerc revealed Ferrari strategy details to Gasly before Bahrain Grand Prix
- Lawson made “very significant step forward” in Bahrain – Mekies
- Russell’s transponder was ‘frazzled and charred’ after Bahrain Grand Prix DRS drama
- “Don’t give me too much now”: Hamilton’s search for speed at Ferrari continues
André
17th April 2025, 20:24
Such an interesting, insightful revelation here. But, geez, that doesn’t look good. The need to step out of his comfort zone to perform with this car will make it nearly impossible to beat Charles, especially in qualifying. Similar problem affecting Max’s teammates.
Edvaldo
17th April 2025, 23:57
If he were younger and had more time left in him, I’d bet he would be able to do it, but at 40, I’m not expecting that at all.
He should’ve gone there sooner.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
18th April 2025, 5:42
Yes, was thinking he should’ve gone to ferrari earlier too, and thought it wouldn’t happen at all after he kept signing with merc.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
17th April 2025, 21:47
My experience when I was a professional driver is you do need to be able to adjust your driving style. Yes, changing your driving style can be difficult, but you are more intelligent than the vehicle, so you are the one who needs to change. When I was a bus driver I had to “reinvent” myself several times. We don’t hear Nico Hulkenberg grumbling about having to change his driving style when he changes team, and he has driven for something like 5 different teams in the last 10 years.
Oleg
17th April 2025, 23:23
And what has Hulkenberg achieved to complain?
And aren’t you overestimating your professionalism too much, comparing driving a bus to driving a Formula 1 car?
baasbas
17th April 2025, 23:43
@Oleg
I think your comment is too harsh, I think he does have a point there…
Also, he didn’t compare driving a bus to F1, he compared ‘regular’ private driving with professional driving (a bus).
Anuj
18th April 2025, 6:04
Alonso has changed teams in 40s. He still extracts the most out of the car.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
18th April 2025, 6:27
Nico is one of the twenty current Formula One drivers. Maybe being 11th equal on the World Drivers’ Championship Table doesn’t sound impressive to you, but there are only 20 currently racing F1 drivers in the entire world. 11th equal means he is arguably an average F1 driver, which is still very commendable. The car he drove last year was uniquely designed and constructed for Haas, while this year’s car was designed and built by Kick-Sauber. Two different vehicles with different strengths and weaknesses.
In regards to Nico being Disqualified from 13th place at Bahrain, when I looked into the reasons for his Disqualification from the Bahrain GP, it appears to me the Stewards have misinterpreted the rule in regards to the plank under the car. My understanding is the Skid Blocks aren’t the Plank, they are separate from the plank, they are used in part to protect the plank coming into contact with the ground.
SteveP
18th April 2025, 8:00
It’s one of the defined measurement points on the “plank”.
Exactly the same measurement test was applied to Hamilton’s car in China, and Russell’s Mercedes in Spa 2024 – so, if they are doing it wrong, they are consistently wrong.
grat
18th April 2025, 0:51
To be fair, Hulkenberg doesn’t get that many interviews.
There seems to be a major difference between the Ferrari and Mercedes engines– Sainz is having a much harder time than expected at Williams. But Hulkenberg was driving Ferrari power at Haas, and is at Stake/Kick/Sauber.
entah
18th April 2025, 0:57
Seasoned drivers changing car may have challengers in acclimatization as opposed to rookies who have their first F1 car.
Ferdi
18th April 2025, 7:03
It all comes across as a bit of an excuse tbh.
Andre
18th April 2025, 9:49
I don’t think he’s giving excuses. He was likely asked by the journalist, and to my surprise he was quite candid about his struggle and about the excellent job that Leclerc is doing. Hamilton is not saying that the car needs to change, the entire article is about him saying that he needs to change, so how is that an excuse? An explanation is not an excuse.
Ferdi
18th April 2025, 14:04
The explanation is the excuse. What we should see is him living up to his status. Instead he needs to explain why he doesn’t.
Hakk The Rack
18th April 2025, 9:53
Ricciardo syndrome
debaser91
18th April 2025, 9:59
Actually reminds me a bit of ’07, Hamilton’s first season, where Alonso had to ‘unlearn’ how he’d been driving the Renault with its Michelin tyres compared to the McLaren on Bridgestones. Hamilton was extremely fast out of the box but he didn’t have any habits ingrained in him that he had to get rid of. What both of them achieved that season was actually very impressive.
The lack of testing nowadays is really, really hurting people who change teams, and honestly it’s something that needs to change, they’ve gone too far in the wrong direction in this effort to cut costs.
S
18th April 2025, 14:16
It’s not just to cut costs – it’s because the teams feel largely satisfied with the virtual alternative. That’s what they asked F1 for, so that’s what they’ve got.
A lot more can be tested and understood in a day with a computer than during a day at a race track.
As for it hurting drivers who change teams – the teams don’t want their drivers to switch, and if they struggle at another team then that’s just fine with them.
Ian Fey
19th April 2025, 18:25
Have an all up cost cap including drivers pay. That way it levels the playing field as teams who cannot afford mega bucks on drivers get more to spend on the car