Damon Hill says Lewis Hamilton suffered a ‘bewildering’ Ayrton Senna problem after joining Ferrari

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Lewis Hamilton had trouble adapting to his new surroundings at Ferrari. Damon Hill has likened his struggles to when Ayrton Senna left McLaren.

The seven-time champion’s struggles with Ferrari were well-documented as he scored no podiums for the first time in a calendar year. He was even questioning his own ability as he could not adapt to the car or establish his way of working with his engineers.

There was a ‘ruction’ between Hamilton and Ferrari chairman John Elkann, with the latter famously telling his drivers to ‘talk less’ and focus on driving as they complained about the state of the car. But in 2026, the Brit’s feedback is finally being taken on board.

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Lewis Hamilton was ‘bewildered’ when he first joined Ferrari, just like Ayrton Senna when he left McLaren

Fred Vasseur advocated for Hamilton’s changes to the car, which have paid off handsomely as he is fighting for top positions. The 41-year-old won his first race for Ferrari in Barcelona and currently sits third in the standings.

Hamilton’s rivals have been impressed by his resurgence ‘off the record’. It has taken time for him to adjust in Maranello, just as it did for Senna after he left McLaren, as Hill recalls.

Senna never got to race for Ferrari, but he did make a move away from McLaren in 1994 to Williams. It proved a difficult switch, failing to finish a race for the team before his tragic accident at Imola.

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Speaking via Up To Speed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Hill feels Hamilton is finally turning it around after a ‘crushing’ 2025 season with Ferrari. He believes that the seven-time champion was ‘bewildered’ by their environment – an issue Senna had after his McLaren exit.

“I think Niki Lauda said the great quote, which was I learned nothing from winning,” he said. “It’s the defeat that you learn from. It’s going, ‘Well, what happened there, what was that?’

“Because I mean, to someone like Lewis, a crushing season, it was something really new to him, I think, and so he always learns from that.

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“And I think he’s had time now to discuss things with the team and explain to them, ‘Listen, I need these things so that I understand the car and I understand the team, so you’re going to have to learn my language, not the other way around.’

“I think you can’t do that when you first arrive. So it would have probably been bewildering when he first went to a new team, a bit like Ayrton when he left McLaren and sadly never got to find out what it was like somewhere else.

“But you get used to the way everyone works. You get used to the language, and when you jump out of a place and go to a new place, it really is a massive learning curve.

“And I think he must have really worked very hard over the winter to get the conditions that he needed to be able to deliver, and that’s what he’s doing now.”