Headline: Hamilton files fresh ‘dossier’ to Ferrari brass as frustrations over methods bubble to the surface
Lewis Hamilton has escalated his push for change at Ferrari, submitting another internal report to the team’s top management in recent weeks as the seven-time champion tries to bend Maranello to his way of working.
It’s the latest step in what’s been a starkly hands-on first season in red. Hamilton revealed back at Spa that he’d been sending a stream of documents throughout the year, outlining everything from car-related proposals to tweaks in communication between departments and how Ferrari execute race weekends. Italian daily Corriere della Sera now says a new report has landed on the bosses’ desks, reinforcing his calls for procedural change.
The timing tracks. Hamilton’s debut campaign with Ferrari has been lean on results. He’s still chasing a first podium in scarlet and, heading into the United States Grand Prix, sits sixth in the standings, 48 points behind Charles Leclerc. That gap says as much about Ferrari’s inconsistency as it does about Hamilton’s bedding-in process — and it’s why he’s pushing harder behind the scenes.
According to Corriere, Hamilton expected to have more sway in key decisions by now, but has instead run into slow-moving bureaucracy and the usual internal politics that have haunted Ferrari at various points over the last two decades. It’s a familiar tune. Sebastian Vettel, a four-time champion himself, spent years trying to reshape the place from 2015 to 2020 and often came away frustrated. Hamilton even sought Vettel’s advice before turning a wheel for Ferrari this year.
At Spa, Hamilton made his intention crystal clear: he doesn’t plan to be another big name who leaves without a title. He talked about challenging “every area” of the operation and using experience from past championship-winning environments to spur Ferrari on — even if the culture is different and the path isn’t always smooth. The push is calculated, not cosmetic.
The sporting detail behind those memos? Singapore offered a glimpse. Hamilton was vocal after qualifying about Ferrari’s pit-lane choreography, particularly the routine of queueing at the end of the pit exit and letting tyre temperatures drop. He and Leclerc then had to hustle too hard on the out-lap to recover that heat, compromising the flyer. “We’re losing so much temperature… five or six degrees,” he said at Marina Bay, calling it an area Ferrari can tidy up quickly. It’s the sort of operational crease that, over a season, shaves away opportunities.
This is the nuance of the Hamilton–Ferrari project. The car needs performance, yes, but he’s just as focused on how the team moves: sharper calls, cleaner comms, less time left on the table. He’s lobbying for a joined-up Ferrari that wastes fewer weekends and reacts quicker in the moment. The new report, like the ones before it, is said to be peppered with requests on methods and procedures — the scaffolding of a title bid, rather than the glossy exterior.
Ferrari, for their part, knew what they were getting. Hamilton wasn’t coming to nod politely at the processes. They hired a serial winner to help set the tone as much as set lap times. But influence at Maranello is always earned, never granted, and the early months have underlined how long that road can be.
The bigger picture? Ferrari haven’t crowned a drivers’ champion since 2007. Hamilton is 40 and makes no secret of the fact that the hourglass is running. He’s spoken about building allies inside the organisation, about getting people “gee’d up” and nudging the place toward a more ruthless edge. If the latest dossier lands the way he intends, expect changes both subtle and not — less dithering in the pit lane, clearer ownership on strategy, maybe even tweaks to who calls what and when.
And if it doesn’t? Then the tension you can see in those TV pens will only grow. Hamilton didn’t switch teams to relive old Ferrari dramas. He came to write a new chapter. The next few weekends will tell us whether Maranello is ready to turn the page with him.
