Lewis Hamilton faces a steep learning curve at Ferrari next season (Image: Getty)
Jacques Villeneuve believes that will need to ‘pamper’ when he moves to Maranello over the winter if they are to extract the best out of the seven-time world champion from the get-go in 2025.
Hamilton will arrive in Maranello in a difficult position. The Brit rounded off his final season with in trademark style, storming through the field to finish in P4 ahead of team-mate . There is, therefore, no question about the 39-year-old’s race pace.
Concerns remain, however, about Hamilton’s qualifying prowess. The Brit was extremely low on confidence when quizzed about his Saturday struggles towards the end of the year, labelling himself “just not fast anymore”. Throughout the season, he only out-qualified Russell in five of the 24 Grands Prix.
Despite those struggles, 1997 world champion Villeneuve believes Hamilton can still hit the ground running in 2025. “It’s a bit of a difficult one,” he told Express Sport, in association with .
“They were the surprise package during the later stages of the season and obviously have a car which is competitive, easy enough to drive and that the drivers can play around with a little bit.
“It just depends on how he gets to that first race in Melbourne. If he gets there, feeling loved by the team and is sitting in a car which works for him, we will see marvels. If it’s difficult, we may see the same problems he’s had in recent years, and there could be some self-doubt by the time the season ends.
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Jacques Villeneuve believes Hamilton can get back to his best (Image: Getty)
“It wouldn’t be nice to see as he’s been carrying a lot of weight since losing the Championship title to Max. He needs to have that behind him. Hopefully, the move to gives him a fresh start.
“The first few races may be difficult but he just needs to stick at it and work hard. I think he just needs to be pampered a little bit. When that happens, he can be unbeatable.”
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Villeneuve is not the only one who believes that Hamilton can get back to his best at . Team principal Fred Vasseur said: “He had very good races in Vegas and in Abu Dhabi. And I was never – really, never, never, never – worried about this situation. This situation, and I don’t criticise Lewis or , but this situation is not easy to manage.
“And I can understand that if it’s not going very well, you can suffer in this relationship. He was not very well in his mind, but he was clear in Brazil about this, for example. But he also did very well in the last couple of events, so I’m not worried at all.”