Lewis Hamilton talks about differences he felt driving a Ferrari car and thankful of the TPC running for better adaption, even though there’s more to come.
In a way, Ferrari’s Hamilton has only 1.5 days to get used to the new car before getting into the thick of things. It is same for everyone, but the Brit has had to do extra considering he is changing teams from Mercedes after decades of driving a car in a team you are comfortable with.
The TPC running did help Hamilton as he admits after things were cramped in a month’s time unlike the previous runners who got extra time in November too. The Brit was not allowed to undertake the run due to his contract with Mercedes and things he had to do with them until December 31.
But as noted, the TPC helped him get used to some of the Ferrari cars in build-up towards the 2025 machinery. He is still learning things, but he feels one step ready for things to begin. “No! I still am not a fan of testing but I’ve really enjoyed the testing I’ve had this year,” said Hamilton to media.
“I’m super grateful for the TPC testing that I got to do. If I only had this day and a half, I definitely wouldn’t be in this position now in terms of how comfortable I feel in the car. There’s still some ways to go. At this point I’m just excited to get racing. I still feel that there’s still quite a bit to come.
“Fortunately, I got to drive the 2023 car. So, I’ve really been able to compare to the 2024 and the 2023 car and see where they’ve progressed, the problems they had on those two cars and how they’ve improved into this one. Obviously I didn’t get to do the test at the end of the year, so for me, I started relatively late compared to others that have come before me – like Sebastian started here in November, so he had a good two months, whereas for me it’s been this [one] month period that I’ve had.
“So, a lot has been crammed in, in that time. But I personally like to just jump in the deep end and figure it out. That’s what we’re doing, but of course we’re going through the processes and I feel like in this period of time we’ve built a really good foundation. But, everyone knows these guys out there are really, really quick, really competitive. It looks very, very close.
“We might not know until [race week] where we stand, but we know that we’ve got work to do. And everyone is just heads down and I’ve been really inspired and really encouraged by it. My colleagues, just how… from a set of leaders, how hardworking everyone is. Getting to know everyone in the garage, the night shift crew, just their processes and how they like to work, just takes time,” summed up Hamilton.
Over the years, Hamilton has managed to judge the car immediately when he tests it. But with the new generation of cars, the Brit has had difficulty in assessing its predictability. It is the same with the Ferrari car as well. For now, he can sense the differences to Mercedes but.
“Over the last four years or so, I can’t judge [the cars] too much and take too much on my first outlook,” said Hamilton. “I mean, for me, I definitely think in the past, years before that, taking the previous generation car was much easier, I think, to know where you stood quite early on with that kind of feeling. I would say this is the most positive feeling that I’ve had in a long time. That’s all I can say for now.
“In the test, we were just focusing on doing the best job that we can with what we have and understanding the package we have. Obviously for me I’m learning more and more about how the team likes to work and making small tweaks here and there to improve my efficiency and the efficiency of how we work together. So it’s been really positive.
“Firstly, they are very well built and massively different in characteristics. Rather than just jumping into this car and having exactly the same, it’s been refreshing to have something different to learn. Different ways to how you have to drive the car, different requirements to how you approach corners, the engine has a different tone, a different feel, different drivability, and I’ve been driving a Mercedes for so long, which is such a great power unit.
“It’s great to see that Ferrari also have a great power unit. It’s something that I’m again spending time with the engineers from the engine department and learning the process they take for reliability and power. That’s a process in itself but so far it’s been really great,” summed up Hamilton.
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