Lewis Hamilton has admitted that landing his first top-three finish with Ferrari is “off the cards for a while” as the team’s 2025 Formula 1 car remains an “alien” to him.
Despite a return to the points, Hamilton broke an unwanted record in the Italian Grand Prix as he became the Ferrari driver with the most starts (16) without a podium.
However, the Briton, who carried over a grid drop that demoted him five places, was encouraged as he produced a spirited recovery to go from 10th to sixth at Monza.
Hamilton was in an upbeat mood as he revealed that the weekend validated that he is on the right track with the revised approach he’s taken since the summer break.
But while Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur is certain Hamilton will end his podium drought soon, the seven-time F1 champion is not envisaging a quick return to the rostrum.
“I think this weekend built a lot on my confidence with the car,” Hamilton, who’s never gone an entire season without a podium, told media including Motorsport Week.
“I’m still not 100 per cent comfortable in the car. I think ultimately that’s driving kind of an alien driving style with a car that I’m not 100 per cent comfortable with.
“But I think overall, our performance was fairly decent.
“We obviously don’t have the pace of the cars much further ahead. So competing for top three is off the cards for a while, but we keep pushing, trying to extract more.”
Hamilton documents travails with ‘alien’ Ferrari
And despite being two-thirds distance through his debut season with Ferrari, Hamilton has insisted that he’s still not able to hit the ground running on a race weekend.
“I know I’ve been driving this car all year long, but in my previous years, I was a part of a car that you’re evolving over time, and you were comfortable with it,” he explained. “You know the driving style, inside and out.
“I think this year, I’m arriving at the track and having to apply this new driving style that is still alien to me. It doesn’t feel natural to a car. That’s how it likes to work.
“So through the race, I’m just getting better and better and faster and faster, and I’m unlocking in that and gaining confidence bit by bit, but that’s not there early on in the weekend to really be able to really harness it.
“If we were to do qualifying now, I think I would have been quite a bit quicker, but that’s all part of it.”
Hamilton hopes 2026 reset swings the balance
Hamilton is expecting that trend to continue across the remaining eight races, but he hopes that next season’s rule changes will deliver a Ferrari car more to his liking.
“I’ve raced a different car for many years. I think the car feels better here for example. It’s better in low speed,” he pinpointed.
“I think the next race will be quite similar. I’ll start on that back foot and build up to what we can.
“I’ll try and get as good as I can. But I’m sure the last lap of the last race will still be the most comfortable.
He concluded: “So hopefully next year it’s not a driving style that’s alien to me. Hopefully can go back a little bit towards what I was used to.”
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