Lewis Hamilton reveals he is determined to avoid the same Ferrari fate that struck Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel as he refuses to leave the Italian team without bagging a record-breaking eighth world title.
There is an element of de je vu at Maranello as another highly talented driver with an exceptional reputation struggles to push the team to a first drivers’ championship since the 2007 season.
Names such as Alonso, Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have all tried and came up short in the 16 years after the start of the 2008 Formula 1 season, largely for reasons out of their control.
For example, poor strategy cost the Spaniard in 2010 whilst poor car development saw Vettel and Leclerc miss out on their opportunities in 2017, 2018 and 2022, potentially also even 2024 too.
The most successful driver in the history of the sport is now with the team, the 40-year-old brings 105 wins, 104 pole positions, 202 podiums, but the story is the same as ever as the team struggles with their SF-25 and languishes a long way behind McLaren.
The outfit finds themselves 238 points back in the constructors’ championship, whilst Leclerc, in fifth, trails Oscar Piastri at the summit of the drivers’ standings by 115 points through 13 race weekends. They are yet to take their first win of the year.
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Yet Hamilton is determined to make sure he doesn’t fall to the same fate as his talented peers such as Alonso, as he confidently states he wants to avoid leaving Ferrari without an eighth title in the bag.
“If you look at the team over the last 20 years, they’ve had amazing drivers,” Hamilton said to media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “You’ve had Kimi, you’ve had Fernando, you’ve had Sebastian – all world champions.
“However, they didn’t win a world championship. For me, I refuse for that to be the case with me. So, I’m going the extra mile. I’ve obviously been very fortunate to have had experiences in two other great teams.
“Whilst things are for sure going to be different, because there’s a different culture and everything, I think sometimes if you take the same path all the time, you get the same result.”
How is Lewis Hamilton going the extra mile for Ferrari?
Famed for his relentless drive on and off the track, Hamilton is known for putting in the extra hours behind closed doors chasing down any extra performance he can find and to work through any problems the team faces.
This is something Max Verstappen himself referenced ahead of the 2025 Miami Grand Prix when he and his infamous rival arrived earlier to the track before any of the other drivers for the Sprint Race on May 5.
Whilst those who know how he works behind the scenes, such as George Russell, have also praised his knowledge and attention to technical details, proving that his skills go far beyond natural talent.
And it’s this off-track drive at Ferrari that’s how he is trying to go the extra mile as he looks to bring elements of his team dynamic at Mercedes with him to Italy, after he and the team won seven drivers’ titles and eight-straight contructors’ championships together.
“I’m just challenging certain things. They’ve been incredibly responsive,” Hamilton continued. “We’ve been improving in so many areas, through marketing, through everything we’re continuously delivering for sponsors, the way the engineers continue to work.
“There’s lots of work and improvements to be made, but very responsive. I guess ultimately, I’m just trying to really create allies within the organisation and get them geed up, get them pushing.
“I’m here to win, and I don’t have as much time as this one (Mercedes’ 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli) here. So, it’s crunch time. For me, I truly believe in the potential of this team.
“I really believe they can win multiple world championships moving forwards. They already have an amazing legacy, but during my time, that’s my sole goal.”
Hamilton added: “The reason for it is that I see a huge amount of potential within this team. The passion, nothing comes close to that.
“It’s a huge organisation with a lot of moving parts, and not all of them are firing on all the cylinders they need to be. That’s ultimately why the team’s not had the success that I think it deserves.
“I feel that it’s my job to challenge absolutely every area, to challenge everybody in the team, particularly the guys that are at the top making the decisions.”
