According to team boss Fred Vasseur, Hamilton talked about racing for Ferrari even before he reached F1. Vasseur managed him in the junior categories.

But to quote Hamilton himself, the dream turned into a nightmare in 2025. He scored at least five podiums in each of his first 18 F1 seasons, but didn’t manage a single one last year.

Hamilton also holds the record for the most Ferrari starts (24) without scoring a podium. That previously belonged to Louis Rosier, who made 15 appearances for the team in the 1950s.

Lewis Hamilton ‘resented’ his lack of influence over Ferrari’s strategy

One major theme in Hamilton’s first season was his uneasy relationship with Ferrari race engineer Riccardo Adami.

While Hamilton maintained that rumours of a rift were nonsense, Ferrari’s decision to reassign Adami (he will now run their driver academy) clearly suggests that they never gelled.

Hamilton had formed what Gazzetta dello Sport call a ‘symbiotic’ relationship with Peter Bonnington at Mercedes. Over 12 seasons together, they won a record six world championships.

But Hamilton ‘resented’ his ‘lack of involvement’ in setting Ferrari’s race strategy. When he approached the team for an explanation, he was told that ‘this is the procedure, we’ve always done it this way’.

Ferrari have a reputation for being set in their ways, and this has frustrated numerous star drivers over the years. Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel have both repeatedly questioned their in-race decision-making.

Lewis Hamilton’s new Ferrari race engineer has already been decided

Ferrari are expected to sign Cedric Michel-Grosjean, who used to be part of Oscar Piastri’s engineering team at McLaren.

Hamilton worked with an interim engineer during last week’s Barcelona Shakedown, an arrangement that left Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok confused.

It may be that Michel-Grosjean is still serving a period of gardening leave after leaving McLaren, leading to an enforced delay.

Ferrari are taking a risk given that the Frenchman has never been a primary race engineer, but equally, he arrives from a title-winning setup. Hamilton may welcome the fresh perspective.

The 2026 Technical Reset

With the 2026 technical regulations looming, the arrival of Michel-Grosjean marks more than just a personnel change; it represents a desperate attempt by Ferrari to modernize its operational “DNA.” The upcoming season introduces radical changes to both power units and aerodynamics, providing a clean slate that Hamilton desperately needs to erase the memories of a winless 2025. Insiders suggest that Hamilton has been spending exhaustive hours in the Maranello simulator, not just to master the new car, but to assert his influence over the development direction—a level of control he felt was stripped from him during his debut year in red. If this new partnership can translate McLaren’s recent analytical efficiency into Ferrari’s raw passion, the “nightmare” of the previous season may prove to be a necessary growing pain.

A Test of Wills

Ultimately, the success of the Hamilton-Ferrari era hinges on whether the Scuderia is truly willing to listen to a seven-time champion or if they will remain shackled by their own traditions. The dismissal of the “this is the procedure” mentality will be the first major hurdle for team principal Fred Vasseur to clear in 2026. For Hamilton, the stakes are equally personal; at 41 years old, he is acutely aware that his window to secure an eighth world title is closing. If the hierarchy at Ferrari continues to resist his input on race strategy and car setup, the dream of a historic title in Italy could quickly dissolve into a final, frustrating chapter of a legendary career. All eyes will be on the pit wall at the season opener to see if Hamilton is finally being given the “symbiotic” support he requires to return to the top step of the podium.