Formula 1: Hamilton in Ferrari under pressure: The fight against itself

Lewis Hamilton cannot be recognized. Hardly anything has remained from the initial euphoria after his spectacular change from Mercedes to Ferrari. His serious mistakes behind the wheel are visibly creating the Formula 1 record world champion, the cloudy prospects for quick successes. “He lacks self-confidence,” said Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur before the race in Spa-Francorchamps about his superstar.

The fact that Hamilton started from the pit lane at the Grand Prix of Belgium after changing the engine and was still worth seeing to seventh place caused a short moment of happiness. However, such results are not what Hamilton runs for at the age of 40 and took the step to the most famous racing team in the world in winter. He is the first pilot to win eight World Cup titles and thus outperform Michael Schumacher. This year this will not work for the sixth of the overall ranking.

Teammate shows Hamilton how to do it

“He has to strain slowly now, otherwise you will lose faith in him,” said Günther Steiner. The former Haas team boss is now working as a TV expert at RTL and judged clearly about the British Hamilton: “I expected a little more. I expected that he can keep up with Charles, but he is quite far away from it.”

Team colleague Charles Leclerc became a strong third in Spa and even landed in front of world champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. “I am very happy with the podium. But we are not satisfied, we want more,” said Monegasse. While Leclerc stabilizes itself, Hamilton mainly runs against himself. Because he cannot meet his own demands at Scuderia, the old master makes life difficult for himself.

Exactly a year since the last win

“I really have to look into myself now,” Hamilton said in Belgium on Saturday. He was eliminated twice in the qualification beyond the Top 15 – both times because of avoidable own mistakes. “It is devastating for the team, you cannot accept such a result,” said Hamilton and added to Leclerc: “One car delivers the other. That is unacceptable and I’m really sorry.”

Hamilton’s last victory was exactly a year. On July 28, 2024, he won a Grand Prix in the Mercedes for the 105th time, no one else can keep up. Now on Sunday (3:00 p.m./Sky) in Hungary is going for the next increase. Hamilton already won eight times in Budapest, and his poles also (9) on the course are unmatched. “I have more confidence again now,” said Hamilton after his catch -up hunt without pressure in Spa.

“Replacement for the disastrous weekend”

This was also urgently needed, because through the paddock he had moved as inconspicuously as possible in the Ardennes in the last week. Hamilton kept his helmet for a long time, seemed to hide almost from the eyes of the fans. From “nightmare weekend” and “disaster” Italy wrote sports media before the 13th of a total of 24 World Cup runs of the year, after all, a reasonably conciliatory conclusion was achieved with a few World Cup points.

“Lewis Hamilton does reparation for the disastrous Formula 1 weekend in Belgium,” the English newspaper “The Sun” then judged, and the Italian “Corriere Dello Sport” wrote: “Lewis Hamilton celebrates an incredible comeback.” The seven -time world champion Hamilton himself judged: “The other two days were quite grotty, now I’m much satisfied.”

Ferrari should help new technical improvements to continue. Thanks to a new rear wheel suspension, SPA was already showing that it seems to work with small steps. The gap to World Cup leaders Oscar Piatri from McLaren, who won in Belgium, is still great.

“Without the upgrades, the podium would not have been possible,” said Leclerc. Hamilton, who was also put to his side in Spa, added: “I have gained a lot of knowledge and believe that the next race will be better.”