May 1 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has been working hard to get up to speed with the 2025 Ferrari, according to Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The seven time world champion has so far failed to acclimatise to his Maranello-made car after spending his entire career with Mercedes-powered Mercedes and McLarens.
So big is the gap to Charles Leclerc that some are even predicting early retirement for the 40-year-old.
“If he really decides to give up now, it will be very early,” former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutschland.
“I almost can’t believe it. The expectations are high now. Lewis needs to try, and he will probably get there. He must not give up.”
Indeed, although Hamilton seemed confused and highly disconsolate in Saudi Arabia, he has spent extra time in Ferrari’s driver simulator in preparation for Miami this weekend.
The Briton “did not limit himself to the usual pre-grand prix simulations,” reported La Gazzetta dello Sport’s technical journalist Paolo Filisetti.
After Jeddah, Hamilton “declared with the utmost honesty that he had no specific complaints about the car, but only about himself, having not yet managed to forget the automatisms that 12 years of Mercedes have rooted in his mind,” Filisetti added.
The journalist says Hamilton’s post-Saudi simulator program was “intense,” combined with “meetings with engineers to thoroughly analyse the problems encountered in the last races and try to find solutions as quickly as possible”.
Normally, most pre-race simulator work prior to a sprint weekend – like Miami – is focused on setup, as there is precious little practice time prior to initial qualifying.
Filisetti says Hamilton’s pre-Miami work went “well beyond the usual”, including “comparative tests with specific emphasis on the way the power unit” operates particularly under braking.
“It is therefore fair to underline how Hamilton’s reaction to the current difficult situation is to work hard,” he added.
“Also true, and Lewis has repeated it several times, that since the debut of the current ground effect cars he has found a less constant and solid feeling with the cars.
“But it is equally true that never, until now, has the performance gap with his teammate been so evident,” Filisetti concluded.
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