[Saba Sports News] Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has had a tumultuous first season with the Ferrari team, making a high-profile switch without achieving an ideal start. Throughout the 2025 season, Hamilton not only failed to step onto the podium but also trailed his teammate Charles Leclerc by as much as 86 points in the standings, marking a low point in his career.
In this context, Hamilton attempted to turn the situation around by deeply involving himself in the team’s operations, which stirred controversy. During the season, Hamilton publicly revealed that he had submitted multiple documents to Ferrari addressing issues such as car direction, departmental communication, and race weekend execution. He hoped to leverage his experience from over a decade at Mercedes to help Ferrari regain its competitive edge. Reports indicate that there were at least four such documents, spanning different phases of the season.
However, this approach received strong criticism from Ferrari’s former team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, who argued that similar document-based suggestions were not new. He noted that Sebastian Vettel had done the same in the past, but in his view, it was nearly pointless. According to Arrivabene, once a driver begins to assume the role of an engineer, problems arise; maintaining clear roles is essential for the team’s efficient operation. He emphasized that a driver’s true value lies in providing precise feedback on the track, rather than attempting to guide technology or management from a macro perspective. Ultimately, simulator experiences and personal feelings are limited; the real performance improvements come from engineers’ in-depth analysis and execution of details.