Twelve months in the past, after I visited Maranello for Ferrari’s conventional end-of-season Christmas debriefing, it was a visit filled with anticipation. With Lewis Hamilton set to hitch the group in only a few weeks, the lengthy wait is pretty much as good because it will get, with Ferrari lastly permitting Carlos Sainz to begin speaking about his future after thanking him and spending some high quality time with him as he departs for Williams.
The potential was monumental. Ferrari made a comeback within the second half of 2024, however missed out on the constructors’ championship on the ultimate race of the season. If this upward pattern continues, it might threaten McLaren in numerous methods. And Hamilton is aware of precisely what it takes to win the title.
You’ll be able to really feel the joy of a brand new period. Teaming up with probably the most profitable driver within the historical past of the game and probably the most iconic and profitable group appeared like a dream state of affairs.
A yr later, the state of affairs going through each events is extra like a nightmare.
Ferrari had struggled early within the season and had clear weaknesses that wanted to be addressed. By that point, that they had successfully dropped out of title rivalry, and with new laws simply across the nook, it was now not justifiable to deal with catching up.
The event faucets are largely off, and there can be no late-season return this time round. In actual fact, there hasn’t been a single Grand Prix win all yr, not even a podium for Hamilton.
“I feel we began this season a little bit bit poorly in Bahrain, however then we had some issues defensively.”{qualifications} “The second race in China put us in a troublesome state of affairs,” mentioned Ferrari group principal Fred Vasseur. (Further be aware: Charles Leclerc’s automobile was below the minimal weight and Hamilton’s automobile had excessively worn rear skids). “Actually, I used to be very proud of the group’s response, as a result of we got here again in three or 4 races and bought again to an honest tempo.
“However in the event you take a look at this, we misplaced 110 factors to McLaren within the first half of the season and at this stage of the season we have been two or three tenths behind McLaren, so it was just about over.
“What we’ve to study is that each little element, which is at all times the case in my enterprise, could make an enormous distinction. And the rationale for the disqualification… I feel I needed to pay a 3rd of the season.”
Ferrari launched suspension modifications later this yr to deal with set-up points, but it surely was as a lot a studying expertise for 2026 because it hoped to see enhancements in 2025.
In different phrases, it was a season by which each drivers competed for the entrance three rows. Whereas Leclerc took pole place, his common qualifying place was 5.46, whereas Hamilton’s late-season kind noticed him drop to 9.04 after shedding Q1 for the third yr in a row.
Solely Kimi Antonelli separated them in common qualifying place, however for Vasseur, the group’s aggressive place and really shut discipline highlighted Hamilton’s struggles.
“I feel it was troublesome for Lewis and that was most likely a small phrase as a result of after 20 years – I say 20 years as a result of for me McLaren was McLaren-Mercedes after which Mercedes. So he spent 20 years with Mercedes – it was an enormous change,” he mentioned.
“I personally underestimated this step. It isn’t that what we’re doing is getting worse or higher, we’re simply doing it otherwise. It isn’t simply the meals and the climate. All of the software program is totally different, all of the elements are totally different, the individuals round him are totally different, they’re totally different too. And in the event you’re not on high of all the pieces, you are going to be left on the desk in just a few hundredths of a second.”
Hamilton and Vasseur’s relationship dates again to once they received championships collectively at junior degree, however Vasseur admits he underestimated simply how large of an adjustment all the opposite preparations for a transfer to Ferrari could be for the seven-time champion. Simon Galloway/Getty Photos
“And in the present day, with the sphere we’ve…I feel it was Abu Dhabi in Q2, we had a tenth masking fifth and fifteenth.” (ED: 0.076 seconds, covers P8 to P15). We did not have full management over all the main points and packaging, so we type of misplaced observe of the season a little bit bit like this.
“At instances lower than a tenth of a second – I keep in mind in Budapest – Charles was a tenth sooner than Lewis in Q2, Lewis completed eleventh (ultimate end: twelfth, 0.247 seconds behind Leclerc) and once more Charles completed on pole. place.
“That is not an excuse, it isn’t a sound purpose. You need to be in entrance of everybody, and on the finish of the day, we’re speaking about particulars. And I feel we most likely underestimated the change in tradition, the change within the individuals round us, the change in all the pieces.”
“Even when we bought again to an honest tempo, I’m not speaking about classification, I’m speaking about collaboration and understanding the automobile within the second half of the season, I feel it was robust.”
Ferrari and Hamilton knew it could be troublesome, however not by a lot. Upon arriving in Fiorano in January, the seven-time world champion stood in entrance of Enzo Ferrari’s home with a picture that outlined the start of a brand new period. Carrying a protracted black coat, he seemed decided and robust, just like the Godfather.
Now, if it have been to be recreated, Hamilton could be standing in entrance of a constructing website, however the home has undergone in depth renovations and is only a shell coated by a roof.
Though obligatory, it’s nonetheless very spectacular to see such an iconic constructing undergo a lot work. However maybe it is a metaphor for the truth that Ferrari additionally must attempt to get probably the most out of Hamilton in 2026.
“I feel it has to come back from in all places,” Vasseur says of how Ferrari can help Hamilton’s progress. “I feel the group’s mindset and the motive force’s mindset needs to be, ‘Let’s do a greater job in all places.’
“Simply because one factor is not working does not imply the remainder will not work. On the finish of the day, we’ve to enhance. We’ve to enhance our collaboration with Lewis. We’ve to enhance throughout the group. Possibly he has to enhance how he will get one of the best out of the automobile he has.
“I do know what you are considering. The brakes, for instance, are one thing he spent 20 years with one provider. They’ve modified from this season. Now we’ve rather more management. However each final element makes a distinction.”
“Simply since you’re three-tenths of a second behind somebody does not imply they’ve a magic bullet or have elements of their automobile which are three-tenths of a second sooner. It usually means there are 10 subjects the place you are three-hundredths of a second slower. We’ve to take every level one after the other.”
“To be trustworthy, it is each a matter of mindset and a matter of understanding one another. On this case, I am speaking concerning the storage aspect, as a result of Charles and I do know one another. However on this case, it is extra vital to grasp precisely what he wants and what he needs. And for him, the identical for me, it is about understanding precisely what he needs to do.”
Relatively than resting aside, Ferrari and Hamilton know they should work intently collectively once more this winter.
There could also be some hope for subsequent yr’s new guidelines, however there’s additionally a way of tension that extra efforts are wanted on numerous fronts to make Hamilton really feel much more at dwelling. However similar to Enzo’s dwelling, Ferrari will spare no effort.
