Alpine’s Flavio Briatore pinpoints what Lewis Hamilton ‘certainly didn’t expect’ to face at Ferrari

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Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore is certain that there is “no doubt” that Lewis Hamilton is still a “great driver”, despite his underwhelming first season with Ferrari.

The seven-time F1 champion realised his childhood dream to race with the Pride of Italy this year. But Hamilton will head into the Scuderia’s home race, the Italian Grand Prix, on Sunday still without a Grand Prix podium in his Ferrari career after the first 15 of this year’s 24 races.

Hamilton has even recorded his lowest points tally through 15 rounds of any F1 season since the current points system was introduced back in 2010. The 40-year-old has scored just 109 points from 15 Grands Prix and three F1 Sprints, while teammate Charles Leclerc boasts 151.

McLaren saw Hamilton’s previous worst points tally after 15 rounds back in 2012, nine years before Sprints joined the calendar, when the Briton scored 152 points. Of his 109 points this year, he has scored 14 in Sprints. Hamilton won the Sprint in China and came third in Miami.

Flavio Briatore doubts Lewis Hamilton expected ‘so many problems’ upon joining Ferrari

Hamilton has given Ferrari documents citing changes he wants the Maranello outfit to make, too, having compared their operations and car to what he experienced with Mercedes from 2013 to 2024. He won six of his titles and 84 of his 105 Grand Prix wins for the Silver Arrows.

READ MORE: How Lewis Hamilton’s mid-2025 results compare to Ferrari’s past champions

Moving to Maranello has proven problematic, as Hamilton has struggled to adapt to Ferrari and their car after 18 years driving for teams based in Britain. And Alpine adviser Briatore is convinced that Hamilton would not have expected to face “so many problems” with Ferrari.

But Briatore feels verdicts on Hamilton’s Ferrari move must wait until F1’s 2026 regulations, given the challenges created by the current cars. Hamilton has never been able to adapt to the ground-effect cars introduced in 2022, as his preferred braking style does not suit them.

Briatore told Gazzetta dello Sport: “He’s a great driver, there’s no doubt about that. But the difficulties he’s having adapting to the car demonstrate how difficult these cars are to drive. He certainly didn’t expect to have so many problems to begin with.

“I don’t know the root of his adaptation issues, even with the team. But we’ll see how things change with next year’s cars.”

F1’s 2026 regulations could see Lewis Hamilton return to form

Hamilton especially endured a miserable first half of the 2025 F1 season after joining Ferrari, as the rear suspension set-up that the Scuderia designed for the start of this term proved to be a mistake. Ferrari had to increase the SF-25’s ride height at the expense of performance.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s engine and aerodynamic regulations

The SF-25’s ride height has not been his only issue with the Scuderia’s car, either. Hamilton has struggled with Ferrari’s power steering, as it causes a slight delay in the input that also impacts his braking. Those two issues only added to his plight with F1’s ground-effect cars.

But next year could see a revived Hamilton, as the changes to the chassis and aerodynamic rules in F1’s 2026 regulations will see the championship move away from ground-effect cars and return to the type of cars that brought the Briton such vast success earlier in his career.