Latest news with #Scuderia
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Ferrari confirm Lewis Hamilton engineer change amid scrutiny over F1 relationship
The relationship between Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari engineers has been the subject of much scrutiny throughout this difficult debut season in red for the Brit Ferrari have confirmed a change to Lewis Hamilton's engineering team. But the new addition led to extra issues at the Belgian Grand Prix as the seven-time Formula 1 champion's new colleague adjusts to their new position. There has been plenty of scrutiny on the Ferrari engineers who have been working most closely with Hamilton ever since his switch to the Scuderia. Most notably, the relationship between the Brit and his race engineer Riccardo Adami has been repeatedly called into question amid a swathe of tense radio conversations. Hamilton has continued to insist, in public at least, that he has not problem at all with Adami and that they are working together well behind the scenes. And Ferrari seem to be happy with that situation too as the Italian remains in that post, having previously served as race engineer to Carlos Sainz before the Brit's arrival. But there has been a change to Hamilton's engineering team at large, which actually took place ahead of the Belgian GP weekend. Ferrari have now confirmed that a new performance engineer was brought into the fold – a figure who has not been named publicly by the team, but who the racer has worked with before. "It's not easy to switch engineers within the middle of the season, but it's someone that I've known for years [and was] actually from my previous team with me, but not in that position," Hamilton confirmed. "So we're getting used to each other and having to learn super, super quick." It was a rough weekend for Hamilton at the Circuit Spa-Francorchamps, which used the Sprint format. That meant just one hour of practice to get up to speed and it clearly wasn't enough for the Brit who suffered double Q1 exits in both qualifying sessions. But he did recover well in the race to finish seventh and, even though the change to his engineering team made it even trickier for them to get the balance of the car right in Belgium, Hamilton sounded optimistic about what benefits the change might bring in the coming weeks and months. He added: "I think the changes that we had [to the car this weekend] really caught both of us out, but I think we did a great job overnight and we'll just get stronger and stronger together. "[With the] change of engineer, we're both in the deep end, basically. And I think we did a really good job overnight to rectify some of those tweaks and fine tune it. The car was so much better to drive today, so I had a lot of fun trying to make my way through. "I think this one is definitely one to put behind me, [but] I definitely feel confident going forward. I learned more about the car today, fine-tuned it. I'll set that up better for next week. I will be at the factory on Wednesday. So yeah, I don't see why we can't have better results moving forward."
The Independent
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Lewis Hamilton eyes key Ferrari F1 breakthrough after testing in Mugello
Lewis Hamilton is testing a new rear suspension on this year's Ferrari F1 car in Mugello today. Hamilton, as well as teammate Charles Leclerc, will drive the SF-25 car around the Italian circuit on Thursday, in addition to a session on Wednesday, as both drivers eye a breakthrough in car performance at the halfway stage of the 2025 season. Both will take to the cockpit on Thursday, with a total of 200km of running allowed as per F1's rules as part of a 'filming day'. Ferrari hope that the new suspension, alongside a new floor upgrade at round 11 in Austria, will extract more performance from a car which is yet to win a race this year. The Scuderia believe the new suspension will help the car be less sensitive to various ride heights, opening up more set-up options for qualifying and the race. The added benefit of this week's testing session comes ahead of next week's Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, which is also a sprint event, meaning there will be just one practice session. Hamilton is yet to finish on the podium in a grand prix, with three best-place finishes of fourth, including at his home race last time out in Silverstone. Leclerc, meanwhile, has finished on the podium four times but is yet to taste victory. Neither driver has recorded a pole position, either. The three teams to have won race so far this season are McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes. Hamilton, in his first season at Ferrari since his move from Mercedes, is currently sixth in the drivers' standings, a whopping 131 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri. Leclerc is one spot, and 16 points, ahead of Hamilton in fifth. Both Hamilton (five times) and Leclerc (once) have won at Spa-Francorchamps, the longest track on the 24-race calendar. Hamilton won last year's race after George Russell, who won the race on-track, was disqualified post-race.
Daily Mirror
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Ferrari told Lewis Hamilton will quit immediately if rumour in Italy comes true
Lewis Hamilton has endured a torrid first season with Ferrari and speculation in the Italian media suggests team principal Frederic Vasseur and one other Scuderia leader could pay the price Ferrari have been told they could lose Lewis Hamilton if they follow through on potential plans being reported in the Italian press. The seven-time Formula 1 champion has been candid about his struggles in his first season with the team, which has yet to see him make it to a Grand Prix podium. Hamilton has urged Ferrari to halt development on their current car and focus on the next season, despite finishing fourth at the recent British Grand Prix. However, Italian media suggest there may yet be significant changes at Maranello before the 2026 season. Team principal Frederic Vasseur is feeling the heat after failing to provide Hamilton and Charles Leclerc with cars capable of challenging McLaren. Several Italian outlets, including prominent newspaper Corriere della Sera, have hinted that Vasseur's position is precarious. La Gazzetta dello Sport also reports that technical director Loic Serra, who joined Ferrari alongside Hamilton from Mercedes, has not lived up to expectations and could depart along with Vasseur. There are strong indications that both could exit in a major reshuffle, with Christian Horner potentially poised to spearhead a rebuild following his dismissal from Red Bull. Team adviser Helmut Marko once said that Horner was on the verge of joining Ferrari in late 2022 before he stepped in, with chairman John Elkann being a big fan of the ousted team boss. However, Will Buxton, former F1TV presenter and current lead FOX IndyCar commentator, thinks that a move from Horner to Ferrari could potentially force Hamilton out of the team. "If they replaced Fred with Christian Horner, I don't think Lewis would be a Ferrari driver for much longer," he stated on The Sports Agents podcast. Buxton also suggested that Alpine might be a more likely destination for Horner, given his close ties with Flavio Briatore, who runs the team in his capacity as adviser to the Renault board. The idea of Horner moving to Ferrari has been deemed improbable, especially after Hamilton accused the ex-Red Bull chief of "stirring things" amidst speculation that Hamilton might join Max Verstappen at Milton Keynes-based outfit. "I don't really know where that story has come from. I mean, I know it's come from Christian," Hamilton told Sky Sports during his time at Mercedes. "I don't really understand what he's been talking about because no one, as far as I'm aware, from my team has spoken to him. I haven't spoken to Christian really in years. "However, he did reach out to me earlier on in the year about meeting up, but that's it. I just congratulated them on an amazing year and said, 'Hopefully soon, I'll be able to fight against you guys in the near future.' That was it. So I'm not really sure, I think he's just stirring things."
Irish Examiner
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Examiner
Lewis Hamilton sets pace in first practice to aid hopes of ending podium drought
Lewis Hamilton raised hopes of ending his podium drought at Silverstone this weekend by setting the pace in opening practice for the British Grand Prix. Hamilton has a remarkable record at his home race, winning a record nine times at Silverstone including victory in the rain last year. The 40-year-old has also finished in the top three in all of his last 11 appearances here but is yet to stand on the podium in Ferrari colours. The Scuderia delivered an improved performance in Austria last weekend, with Charles Leclerc third ahead of Hamilton in fourth. Hamilton, whose streak of 11 races without a podium finish is the longest of his career – continued that progress by finishing 0.023 seconds ahead of compatriot Lando Norris. Norris trails McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by 15 points in the championship standings following his victory in Austria and is bidding to secure back-to-back Formula One wins for the first time. The 25-year-old has his own grandstand at Silverstone, hosting 10,000 of his fans, and they would have enjoyed seeing a British duo at the top of the standings during Friday's opening running. Piastri was third fastest, 0.150sec off the pace, ahead of Leclerc in fourth. Max Verstappen, who is now 61 points behind Piastri in the standings after his first-lap elimination in Austria, again complained about handling issues with his Red Bull. British driver Arvid Lindblad drove for Red Bull in first practice (Bradley Collyer/PA) The four-time world champion was only 10th fastest British driver Arvid Lindblad drove the other Red Bull during first practice – becoming only the second driver under 18 to take part in a Grand Prix weekend, after Verstappen. The 17-year-old delivered a respectable lap time to finish 13th. George Russell, whose future has dominated talk ahead of the weekend, was fifth for Mercedes. Second practice gets under way at 1600 BST.
Glasgow Times
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- Glasgow Times
Lewis Hamilton sets pace in first practice to aid hopes of ending podium drought
Hamilton has a remarkable record at his home race, winning a record nine times at Silverstone including victory in the rain last year. The 40-year-old has also finished in the top three in all of his last 11 appearances here but is yet to stand on the podium in Ferrari colours. The Scuderia delivered an improved performance in Austria last weekend, with Charles Leclerc third ahead of Hamilton in fourth. Hamilton, whose streak of 11 races without a podium finish is the longest of his career – continued that progress by finishing 0.023 seconds ahead of compatriot Lando Norris. Norris trails McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by 15 points in the championship standings following his victory in Austria and is bidding to secure back-to-back Formula One wins for the first time. The 25-year-old has his own grandstand at Silverstone, hosting 10,000 of his fans, and they would have enjoyed seeing a British duo at the top of the standings during Friday's opening running. Piastri was third fastest, 0.150sec off the pace, ahead of Leclerc in fourth. Max Verstappen, who is now 61 points behind Piastri in the standings after his first-lap elimination in Austria, again complained about handling issues with his Red Bull. British driver Arvid Lindblad drove for Red Bull in first practice (Bradley Collyer/PA) The four-time world champion was only 10th fastest British driver Arvid Lindblad drove the other Red Bull during first practice – becoming only the second driver under 18 to take part in a Grand Prix weekend, after Verstappen. The 17-year-old delivered a respectable lap time to finish 13th. George Russell, whose future has dominated talk ahead of the weekend, was fifth for Mercedes. Second practice gets under way at 1600 BST.
