Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari F1 passion 'not enough' claims former team boss

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari passion 'not enough' claims former team boss

Lewis Hamilton's passion at Ferrari may not be enough to achieve title success with the team

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 13 April 2025 08:55

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Lewis Hamilton’s passion at Ferrari may not be enough to achieve success at the team, according to their former team principal Mattia Binotto.

The Italian engineer led Ferrari from 2019 until 2022, and has since taken on the dual roles of chief operating officer and chief technical officer at Sauber.

However, that hasn’t stopped people from asking him about Ferrari, and in an interview with Corriere della Sera he was asked about Hamilton’s recent move, where he held some doubts.

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"He's brought great enthusiasm, passion, a lot of experience. But that's not necessarily enough,” Binotto explained.

“We don't know how fast Lewis is anymore and this experience will help us understand that, when a driver is strong he adapts quickly.

“In these first races we will understand what the balance of power with Charles will be and what the impact on Charles will be. All question marks that I won't get into."

Hamilton’s Ferrari career gets off to a whimpering start

Hamilton’s results from his first three races with Ferrari give little cause to celebrate, and aside from a sprint race win, the champion has not been able to finish higher than P7 in a full grand prix. To compound matters, he will also start the Bahrain Grand Prix in P9 while team-mate Leclerc will be in P2.

Despite Ferrari’s lacklustre start to the season, Hamilton has refused to be defeated and has instead asked that people lessen their expectations of his maiden Ferrari campaign.

Nevertheless, a disqualification in China and low points finishes in Australia and Japan mean he is already 47 points behind championship leader Lando Norris.

Hamilton will be hoping Ferrari’s updates in Bahrain can turn his fortunes around in 2025, but regardless he will still have to contend with the pace deficit to his team-mate Charles Leclerc.

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Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc Bahrain Grand Prix Mattia Binotto