Lewis Hamilton is glad that his team Ferrari listened to his call from a year ago. The Brit experienced the worst season of his F1 career during his debut year at the Scuderia, in which he could not secure a single podium. Hamilton then called on the Italian team to start innovating again: “And this year we are the innovators again.”
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Lewis Hamilton began his adventure at Ferrari in 2025. However, the Brit’s first season in Scuderia red was anything but smooth. Hamilton did not stand on the podium even once throughout the entire year. That podium drought ended during the recent Chinese GP: for the first time, the Brit finished third in a Ferrari during a main race. Hamilton has now also secured his first win for the Scuderia.
“Last year I kept wondering: ‘Where is the innovation?’ Ferrari should be the innovator, the one everyone copies,” the Brit told the media present at Zandvoort. Ferrari has since answered Hamilton’s question with, among other things, the much-discussed ‘Macarena’ wing.
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“We have changed quite a few things,” the seven-time world champion compares the current Ferrari car with last year’s. “Many changes have been made, whether it’s the technology, our processes, or the design of the car – which is of course very different in this new generation – but we have made many changes and I think that’s why we are in a better position now. We now have a great collaboration. It took over a year to get on the same page, but I think we are there now.”
‘This year Ferrari is the innovator’
According to Hamilton, the team listened to his call from a year ago. “Last year I said, among other things, that Ferrari had to be an example for others, and that everyone should follow Ferrari’s example,” said the driver. “And this year we are the innovators. You know, people have copied our wing designs and the exhaust system.” According to Hamilton, his team is on the right track. “I think we are in an ideal position. We are just going to keep building on the foundation we have laid.”
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Read everything about the Dutch GP in Zandvoort here
