Lewis Hamilton has admitted he underestimated the difficulty he would face in adapting to life at Ferrari after completing his move from Mercedes, Afrosport reports.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion won six of his championships in a 12-year stint with Mercedes before he joined the Scuderia this year.
Hamilton’s start to life at Ferrari has been less than ideal, failing to secure a podium finish after six races, with his best finish being fifth in Bahrain while he was disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix due to excessive plank wear having initially finished sixth.
“I anticipated it would be very tough because I’ve joined a team before and I came in with a really open mind,” the 40-year-old said ahead of this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
“I just didn’t know how tough it was going to be. I knew it was going to be challenging and it’s as challenging as it could ever be on all fronts.”
Hamilton is currently seventh in the championship standings, behind Kimi Antonelli, who replaced him at Mercedes, and 90 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.
He is however optimistic that things can turn around for Ferrari.
“The championship?. There’s still a long, long way to go,” he added.
“From all my years of experience, when you’re over 100 points behind at this point in the season, with a car that’s up against a car [McLaren] that is dominant, you have to assume that you’re not necessarily fighting for a championship win.
“But things can turn around.”
How does that seat fit, Lewis?
pic.twitter.com/L4H0qJs4h2
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) May 16, 2025
Hamilton has won the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, once, during the Covid-19 hit season in 2020 while reigning world champion Max Verstappen won the next three editions.
