Headline: Vasseur concedes Ferrari misjudged Hamilton’s adaptation as Villeneuve pegs 2026 as the real Leclerc benchmark
Ferrari didn’t just sign Lewis Hamilton; it signed a reset. What’s become clear through the first half of 2025 is that the reset is taking longer than anyone in Maranello anticipated — including the man in charge.
Team principal Fred Vasseur has admitted he and Hamilton underestimated the scale of the transition. After nearly two decades living in Mercedes-powered machinery — first at McLaren, then at Mercedes — Hamilton walked into a new factory, a new language of engineering, a new way of doing things. And the results, so far, reflect the growing pains.
“I think perhaps that we underestimate the challenge for Lewis at the beginning of the season,” Vasseur told Formula 1’s official website. “He spent almost 10 years with McLaren and then 10 years with Mercedes – that’s almost 20 years with Mercedes in the same environment. It was a huge change for Lewis in terms of culture, in terms of people around him, in terms of software, in terms of car… perhaps that we underestimate this, Lewis and myself.”
The scoreboard is blunt. Hamilton is still searching for his first Ferrari podium, while Charles Leclerc has five rostrums to his name and a 42-point cushion in the Drivers’ standings. Hungary summed up the current split-screen: Hamilton cut a frustrated figure after a Q2 exit and a P12 finish, calling himself “useless,” while Leclerc stuck it on pole and, in the heat of the moment, even quipped that Ferrari should “change driver.”
From the outside, Jacques Villeneuve sees a driver still decoding a team that doesn’t speak his old language. “Lewis comes from completely different experiences in Formula 1 and in the past he has always worked with the English and German methods,” the 1997 world champion told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Now he is realising how different everything is at Ferrari. It always seems that there is a bit of confusion at Ferrari in terms of decisions and communication, even via radio, and this does not help him adapt.” He added that Hamilton’s mood has been “surprising,” given the weight of expectation around the move.
But Villeneuve isn’t writing the story’s ending in 2025. He’s circling 2026 — when F1’s new chassis and engine rules land — as the moment the intra-Ferrari comparison truly bites. “Next year will be the real test with Leclerc,” Villeneuve said. “This car was not designed for Hamilton, and with the new regulations, everything will be reset in 2026.”
That’s the hope inside Ferrari, too. A clean-sheet rule change can shuffle the pack, and Hamilton’s bet on red was always as much about timing as romance. For now, it’s about patience and process: learning the tools, syncing with the pit wall, and chipping away at the gap to a team-mate who knows this place inside out.
There’s no hiding that the opening chapter has been underwhelming. There’s also no doubt the chapter that matters most, for both Hamilton and Ferrari, starts when the rulebook is rewritten. The real test isn’t far away.
