Lewis Hamilton says “so much noise and pressure” has made it difficult to find enjoyment in his dream Formula 1 switch to Ferrari.
Hamilton has had a bruising start to life at Ferrari with an inconsistent first half of the season, winning the sprint race in round two at Shanghai but he hasn’t scored a grand prix podium, while team-mate Charles Leclerc has netted five of them.
There have been big emotional swings for Hamilton, peaking just before the summer break, where, after being knocked out in Q2 at the Hungaroring while Leclerc put the same car on pole, Hamilton suggested Ferrari needed to replace him.
Given this is F1’s most successful driver ever partnering with arguably its most storied team, there’s been a huge amount of attention, pressure and expectation since it was first announced over 18 months ago, from Hamilton, Ferrari, fans, the media and F1 and its stakeholders.
Speaking ahead of the final 10 races of F1 2025, Hamilton says that pressure has sapped the enjoyment from his year so far.
“I felt determined to and motivated to,” Hamilton said when asked if he was ready to turn over a new leaf ahead of this weekend's Zandvoort race.
“We're going to work hard, keep our heads down, try to change a few things in our approach and start to enjoy ourselves.
“There's been so much pressure in this first half of the season that it's not been the most enjoyable.
“It’s remembering that we love what we do. We're all in this together and we're trying to have some fun.”
Asked why he’s felt more pressure, Hamilton replied: “I think it’s ultimately just to get on top of everything, the amount of work we have, all the new partners, the amount of shoots we've done.
"Getting integrated into a new team, and it's a big, big team. It's the biggest brand in our sport as well.
“So a combination of all those different things has been, it's been a lot.”
Hamilton said he “unplugged” for much of the summer break, spending his time with family and friends.
But he’s also spent the days leading up to Zandvoort working on what can be improved, including how to enjoy things more.
Little can quite prepare you for the attention you get as a Ferrari driver - in particular when you’re a seven-time world champion, one weekend away from picking up the unwanted record for the most starts for the factory Ferrari team without a grand prix podium.
“I think it's probably the most important part because that's the reason I got into this sport,” Hamilton said when asked how important enjoyment is to racing.
“It was fun for me, and I think for anyone in whatever career you're in, if you're not enjoying what you're doing, then why are you doing it?
“There can often be so much noise you can lose sight of what's really important so that's what I'm saying, I just really want to focus on getting back to that enjoyment.
“I've joined the team that I've always dreamed of driving for and there's been so much noise around that it's kind of clouded us from getting to enjoy it.
"So now it's about kind of moving those things aside and just getting back to focusing on the pure love of what we do.”
Hamilton said he’s had difficult times in his career before - “I never just got in and won” - and he remains convinced in the “potential” at Ferrari and is “looking forward to the sunnier days”.
Russell on ‘nonsense’ reaction
Hamilton’s former team-mate George Russell highlighted important context to Hamilton’s post-session comments when asked whether Hamilton was talking nonsense with his claim that Ferrari needed a new driver.
“Of course, he's talking nonsense when he says something like that, because he's the greatest driver of all time,” Russell replied.
“A situation like that, when you go from the race track and you're in front of the media within 10 minutes, you have all of these emotions. When you have a bad day, that's how you feel; when you have a good day, everything changes.
“He's still an exceptional driver. We saw it: he obviously won the sprint straight away at the start of the year in China.
“He's clearly still got it, but Formula 1 is not an easy sport. And especially if the team is not performing at the highest level, that compounds the issue and of course, Charles is an amazing driver too.
“I think right now, 14 races down, probably every driver bar two are looking forward to 2026 for a fresh opportunity to fight for a championship.
“And for someone like Lewis, that's what he sort of lives for - not just getting in the points.”
