Lewis Hamilton has insisted that he is committed to helping Ferrari return to the top in Formula 1 as he likened his experience with the team to “climbing a mountain”.
Ferrari’s prolonged championship drought dating back to 2008 is guaranteed to continue into next season’s regulation changes amid a tumultuous campaign in 2025.
Hamilton’s arrival was heralded as an addition that would propel the Italian marque to title success, having come up 14 points short versus McLaren last time around.
However, Ferrari has experienced severe complications with the SF-25 to remain the standalone side among the leading quartet without a Grand Prix win this season.
But the Briton, who is without a podium since his much-anticipated switch, has vowed that his conviction in the team hasn’t wavered despite a tough debut campaign.
“It’s been a really heavy year. It’s been the busiest year I’ve probably had,” Hamilton told media including Motorsport Week in Las Vegas.
“I’ve been at the factory more than I think I was ever at any other factory before, because there’s just been so much to do and so much to learn.
“It’s definitely very tough when we’re all working towards something and then you fall back.
“It’s like we’re climbing up a mountain and then you arrive at the weekend and you kind of slip a few steps back or 10 steps back and you know you have to then get back up and try again the next time.
“But I think the resilience that I’ve felt in myself, just reminding myself just how resilient I am.
“I back this team 100 per cent and I back myself 100 per cent. I know that when we get things right it’s going to be amazing.
“I can’t wait for that moment because then it’d be nice to see what you’re going to write after that, and I truly believe that that’s going to happen.
“So, I’m just not losing sight of that even with all the difficult days we’ve had.”
And while he’s accepted that this season hasn’t lived up to expectations, Hamilton has maintained that he never underestimated the challenge awaiting him at Ferrari.
“It’s been an extraordinary experience from the moment I arrived and I still pinch myself honestly that I’m in red, that I get to drive a Ferrari and get to represent so many of these amazing people that you don’t get to see back at the factory,” he said.
“And look, I joined this team knowing full well that it takes time to steer a ship in a different direction and this is a huge team, it’s a huge organisation. There are so many moving parts and we can’t fix it in a click of a finger. It takes real time.
“So of course it’s not been what any of us have wanted in terms of a season with the troubles that we’ve had and the results that we’ve had, but we continue to push on full steam.”
Hamilton insists Ferrari mood upbeat despite setbacks
Hamilton has reiterated that the various setbacks that he and the team have endured have not had a negative impact on the morale inside the Maranello-based camp.
“It’s not that it changes something. Of course our goal is to get to the front and we’re not at the front, so I take it all incredibly personally,” he admitted.
“I’m 100 per cent invested in this and I know every single person in this team from the back to the front feels what I feel and we share it together, but we turn up every weekend.
“I’m motivated by seeing everyone that comes to the track each week, still positive.
“This is the kindest group of people that I’ve ever worked with in terms of just how everyone’s so welcoming, everyone’s so polite, everyone’s so warm.
“It’s really beautiful, you know, you can feel that culture within the team and I love it.”
That has instilled added hope within the seven-time champion, who has been constructing documents centred on possible improvements, that better times lie ahead.
“I’ll never compare it to another team because it’s just so different, but I’m constantly inspired when I go back to the factory,” he added.
“Firstly, going back to Ferrari, to the factory, every single time, it’s the most amazing feeling. There is something so romantic when you go to Ferrari, as you know, the brand.
“I think there’s great harmony within the team, even with all the ups and downs that we’ve been having.
“I think everyone [is] focused on taking the learnings from this year to build on the better future and that encourages me every time I go and see everybody back at the factory.
“So of course there’s areas that we need to improve, I’ve spoken on those and that’s what we’re working on.”
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton denies social media post was response to Ferrari chairman’s remarks
Discussion about this post