Ted Kravitz has taken aim at Lewis Hamilton‘s approach during his difficult first season with Ferrari.
“He thought he could bring the expertise he had from his time at Mercedes,” Kravitz said on the Sky F1 show.
The pit lane reporter believes Hamilton expected to easily transfer his Mercedes knowledge to Ferrari, but things didn’t go as planned.
Hamilton’s relationship with Ferrari leadership also seemed to change as the season progressed.
“He thought he could bring the expertise he had from his time at Mercedes — however many years it was, 10 years — and the years before that at McLaren, and then change just a few things to bring Ferrari back into the winner’s circle consistently,” Kravitz explained.
The seven-time world champion initially felt he had strong backing from the team’s top brass.
“He believed he had two people in John Elkann and Fred Vasseur who backed him completely. That changed in late September or October, when Elkann made his comments, and now he goes into the winter thinking, ‘OK, if I can just get some things improved, then at least I’ve got maybe a chance of some success.'”
Money and contract length played a big part in Hamilton’s decision to leave Mercedes.
“Bear in mind, he went to Ferrari because they were offering a longer-term deal than Mercedes, weren’t they, and the promise that he might actually be able to win some races.”
Despite the struggles, Kravitz thinks Hamilton is in it for the long haul.
“I think he will stay on. I think he will hope for 2026, but he went to Ferrari wanting to win and wanting to be as quick as, or quicker than, Leclerc.”
Hamilton’s debut season in red has been tough to watch. He didn’t manage a single podium finish all year.
Things actually got worse as the season went on. In the final three races, he couldn’t even make it out of Q1 qualifying.
## Ferrari Could Reignite Hamilton’s Fire
Former Haas team boss Guenther Steiner recently suggested that Ferrari might be able to bring back the Hamilton magic with their 2026 car.
The 60-year-old was pretty blunt, though. He believes Ferrari needs to give Hamilton a competitive car soon, or the British driver might just call it quits.
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