Lewis Hamilton enjoys the spotlight and generally makes the most of it. He amply demonstrated his understanding of the enduring power of the image in his exquisitely curated first week at Maranello, down to his crimson-soled Christian Louboutin shoes.
But the combination of Formula 1’s most successful driver and its most historically evocative team has invited a potent level of scrutiny – and, in some quarters, borderline hysteria when results have not squared up with the lofty expectations. Hamilton’s victory in the sprint race in China is something of an outlier over a run of opening rounds in which he struggled to get close enough to teammate Charles Leclerc in qualifying.
As a consequence, everything from the tenor of his radio communications with race engineer Riccardo Adami to his demeanour in post-race interviews is the subject of fevered comment. When asked about this ahead of the race in Jeddah, he was philosophical.
“On one side it’s to be expected – it [Ferrari] is the greatest team in Formula 1 history, it’s that special,” he said.
“Of course there’s more stories that are written about it and people have opinions. And it’s not always been smooth sailing. So, just from my perspective, you can’t work with a team and change things overnight.”
At the last round in Bahrain, both Hamilton and team boss Frederic Vasseur alluded to the challenges in moving teams after 12 years of working in the same environment and driving cars with a particular set of characteristics and operational procedures.
“You won’t replace 12 years of collaboration in two weeks or two races,” Vasseur said at the time.
Not only do the current generation of ground-effect F1 cars require a particular driving style to exploit, since they are heavy and stiffly sprung, the control inputs and ‘tools’ on the steering wheel are crucial to maximising performance. Drivers need to accumulate a kind of muscle memory to make rapid-fire setting adjustments over the course of a lap, adding to the steep learning curve that comes when shifting teams.
Actions that were formerly instinctive and automatic now need thought, which leads to inertia.
“We’ve spent time getting to know each other,” said Hamilton. “There are changes that are short term that we’ll do together, keep all the greatness and keep building all the areas that we could be stronger in. Some of those are short-term and some of them are longer term.
“There’s so many great things within this team. We want to harness the energy and the passion that’s within the team.
“We also have to protect the team as well because the spotlight is on this team more than any other. Everyone in this team, their heart is so in it. It’s like we’re riding a rollercoaster together, up and down, and I have no doubts we will get to where we plan to be – it’s just going to take time.”
