Inside Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari adaptation: "I need to elevate in every area"

Lewis Hamilton has provided a detailed insight into how he is adapting to life as a Ferrari F1 driver.

Hamilton officially started work at Ferrari in January and is gearing up for his first season with F1’s most iconic team, having stunned the sporting world 12 months ago by announcing he would leave Mercedes after 12 years to complete a blockbuster switch.

Since his arrival, the seven-time world champion has been focusing on getting up to speed as quickly as possible ahead of his Ferrari race debut at next month’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Speaking to media including Crash.net, Hamilton acknowledged he has a “huge amount of work to do” as he explained how he has been acclimatising to a new team and culture.

“I'm still acclimatising - I’ve only been here a month,  so I'm still acclimatising to a completely new car, a completely new way of working, but everyone's bent over backwards in this team to make me feel welcome,” Hamilton said.

“And I really feel at home. I know I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. It feels natural. It feels right. So I think we've just got to continue to put in the time and take it one step at a time as well.

“Everything doesn't have to happen on one day. But of course we have a goal. We have a target, where everyone’s rallying to get there.”

Embedding himself and learning the lingo

Hamilton started his acclimatisation at Ferrari last month and has been frequently visiting the team’s famous Maranello headquarters to get to know his new colleagues better and familiarise himself with the factory.

Such is his desire to be embedded with the team as much as possible, Hamilton has been staying close to the factory in his motorhome during the week.

Part of the process of embedding himself into Ferrari’s way of life has been learning a new language at the age of 40.

Hamilton, who started racing in Italy in 1997 at the age of 13, was recently heard addressing Ferrari staff in Italian - underlying his effort to connect with the team.

“My dream has always been to be able to speak another language, but I guess when you are always in an English-speaking country you’re not forced to, necessarily,” he explained.

“It makes it maybe a little bit harder. But it was a language that I loved trying to learn back then and I never quite finished it.

“I’m slowly getting there. I think consistency is key and that’s why I really love being here at the factory, because I’m getting to practice more and more each day.”

And Hamilton has wasted no time enjoying Italian cuisine.

“I’ve had already quite a few pizzas, but somehow I’ve lost weight. Last week I had three pizzas,” he said with a large grin on his face.

“I love Italian food, I always have. I remember coming out here when I was racing with Nico [Rosberg] at the time, we used to go out and get gelato every freakin’ night and we used to eat a lot of pizza.

“But I’ll have to watch my diet. That’s going to be hard. I can’t eat pizzas all year long, otherwise I won’t fit in the car.”

Adapting his driving style

On track, Hamilton has driven Ferrari’s 2023 and 2024 cars in short tests in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, the Briton briefly experienced his first taste of the 2025 car, which he will spend another one and a half days in during pre-season testing in Bahrain next week before the first race in Melbourne.

Hamilton, who has only driven Mercedes-powered cars throughout his F1 career, has admitted he has been having to adapt his driving style to suit the Ferrari car and engine.

Every element, from getting used to the Ferrari steering wheel and switch settings, pedals, braking system and software, has been part of the challenge facing the former Mercedes driver.

“I am definitely having to adapt my driving style. It's rare that you just jump in and it just fits,” he said.

“For example, the steering wheel is completely different. All the switch settings are completely different. The software is different. Not only with that, I'm having to adapt to that.

“I am adapting to a car that's made quite differently to what I've worked with in the past. To achieve the similar sort of thing, the feeling is a lot different.”

‘Elevating every area’

Hamilton believes Ferrari have “absolutely every ingredient to win” and is eying adding an elusive and record-breaking eighth world title to his storied F1 career.

This new chapter will present Hamilton, who took 10 races to reach the top step of the podium with Mercedes, with his biggest task yet, something he is well aware of.

“I know how long it takes to build trust and grow within a team and grow with people,” he said.

“I've experienced that with Mercedes, I've experienced that with McLaren. And I really cherish the longevity that I had within those places and the bonds that we created in that time. And they don't happen overnight.

“But this step is huge. It couldn't be any bigger. The organisation is massive. The passion adds to it from the fans, from the diversity, from the people within, for that desire to want to win. And you don't want to let people down. You want to be able to deliver on your word.”

Hamilton heads into 2025 reinvigorated, refreshed and with a new mindset and clear goal.

“I decided to come into this year, my resolution, my life, my mentality is that okay, I need to elevate in absolutely every area on my side,” he explained.

“It’s not just this is who I am and just got to gel in, I’ve got to elevate in my fitness, my time management, how I engage with my engineers, how much time I spend in the factory, all these different things.

“I’ve definitely done that and I’m doing that and I will continue to do that in this drive for perfection and to achieve the success that I’m aiming to achieve. But it’s a lot of work, I have to say.

“From the day you join the team to the first race, it's very short and there's no shortcuts that you can take. And so we're not taking it, we're just putting the work in and we're grafting.

“It took me six months in Mercedes to get my first win. I'm doing everything I can to be ready for race one.”