Mercedes boss Toto Wolf defended Lewis Hamilton for a sluggish begin to his life at Ferrari.
Twelve years after Mercedes, Hamilton shocked the world of sports activities by saying his swap to Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season.
Nevertheless, Hamilton Ferrari’s partnership has not met expectations.
Ferrari’s SF-25 is just not on observe.
Even by the hands of Charles Leclerc, it solely completed 3 times on the rostrum.
Hamilton’s finest outcome was within the Chinese language dash race, successful from pole place.
Hamilton overtly talks about how Ferrari F1 Challengers drive and the way they arrange the automotive, one thing fully totally different to the way it was performed at Mercedes.
His former group boss helped him flip issues round.
“You do not make it appear uneasy to drive it shortly,” Wolf instructed the Bloomberg Sizzling pursuit.
“He was nice in 2021. Then the laws modified and it grew to become just a little harder, however he was nonetheless taking part in at a really excessive degree.
“Simply change groups and you will not lose your expertise abruptly. Everybody wants a interval of adaptation: totally different vehicles, totally different DNA in how your automobile is pushed, and new engineering groups that you must begin working with.
“Then you need to be concerned within the ongoing growth of the automotive to fit your driving fashion.
“It is an All-Italian group and he is a British man parachute there, that takes time.
“We have additionally seen a little bit of a sample originally of the season the place Lewis wants to seek out his mojo. The second half of the season is all the time very sturdy.”
Wolf remains to be “shut good friend” with Hamilton.
Wolf is stunned by Hamilton’s determination to depart Mercedes, however he insists that their private relationships have gotten stronger.
“You need to miss somebody like Lewis Hamilton on a regular basis,” Wolf added. “And as you say, we’re nonetheless shut mates, now we have given one another our phrases.
“We have to struggle for every group, so we cease our gloves and get on observe and struggle laborious, that is the form of rule now we have.
“However off observe, we spend time with one another and journey collectively. I do not need to miss out on the chums I’ve had through the years.
“That is the longest driver group relationship in Components 1-12. You hardly ever see it in different sports activities.
“And clearly he has lots of expertise in relation to growing vehicles. He is seen all of it. It is all the time going to be tough to switch somebody like Lewis Hamilton.”
