Esteban Ocon has said that he “can understand” the troubles Lewis Hamilton is having since the current Formula 1 season began amid his struggles to adapt at Ferrari.
Hamilton has been in an invidious position, balancing an integration into a new environment with a tricky SF-25, which has so far been underwhelming in performance.
Aside from a Sprint win in China, Hamilton has not found a happy medium with the car, which sees him seventh in the Drivers’ Championship, 90 points adrift of the top.
Ocon, who is also integrating into a new side in the shape of Haas, admitted that he can empathise with the tough acclimatisation process Hamilton is going through.
“It’s very difficult, especially when you change car philosophy,” Ocon told media including Motorsport Week.
“The Haas car and the Ferrari car have a lot of similarities, so I can relate to Lewis on that side.
“I have driven the Mercedes as well in the past, so it is a very different way of driving the car or extracting the potential of it.
“The car feels very different, so it is not easy for sure to adapt to that. But I am sure he will find a way very quickly.”
Hamilton’s extensive experience a hindrance
One of the obvious problems for Hamilton has been moving to a brand new team after such a long time with the same one, having completed 12 seasons with Mercedes.
When asked if he feels Hamilton can utilise his experience to overcome the problems he is facing, Ocon said his years in F1 might actually be a hindrance.
“It’s more the opposite way,” he said. “
“I think if you come from junior formulas and you go straight into that car, you put everything you have learned away and you just go into it and you learn a new thing again.
“Now with our experience, Lewis has much more experience than me, he’s driven a lot of different cars but a lot of the same ones as well for a long time.
“I can understand why it is not easy and I also know it is not easy for me or for Carlos [Sainz, at Williams], but we will get there.”
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