David Coulthard tells Lewis Hamilton the one problem he can’t solve at Ferrari

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David Coulthard says Lewis Hamilton can’t turn Ferrari into another Mercedes before he leaves because he simply doesn’t have ‘time’.

Hamilton joined the Scuderia ahead of the 2025 season, having spent a record 12 seasons at Mercedes. In that time, he won six world championships – the most any driver has managed with the same constructor.

While he was deeply embedded in the Mercedes environment, Hamilton saw an opportunity to enhance his legacy by ending Ferrari’s long title drought. The Italian marquee haven’t won the drivers’ title since 2007, or the constructors’ since 2008.

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David Coulthard fears Lewis Hamilton will run out of ‘time’ to change Ferrari

Hamilton’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, has been part of the Ferrari family since 2016, when he entered the driver academy. He joined the team ahead of the 2019 season after spending his rookie year at Alfa Romeo/Sauber.

This may be part of the reason why Leclerc has dominated the intra-team head-to-head.

Last year, Hamilton sent Ferrari documents of feedback, having analysed the team across all departments. He was effectively trying to recreate the team in his own image, based on what worked at Mercedes and McLaren (where he won his first championship).

Reports at the time claimed Ferrari ‘resented’ Hamilton’s feedback, strengthening the argument that they are resistant to change.

Speaking on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Coulthard said the necessary transformation would take time – a luxury that the 41-year-old Hamilton doesn’t have.

“For Lewis, it must be challenging,” he said. “He’s spent all his life with British racing teams and he’s there within Ferrari, picking up the language, but not fluent in the language.

• READ MORE: Jenson Button warns Lewis Hamilton he can’t get away with skipping Ferrari simulator tests

“Charles is embedded. He’s been there for some time, and the teams are so big now, no matter how much Lewis will tell us he’s been in the factory and he’s been on the simulator, to effect change and influence change in an organisation that large just takes a long, long time.

“I’m not sure he’ll have the time to really make it the way Mercedes were shaped around his needs, and it was tremendously successful.”

While the team haven’t officially specified the length of the deal, it’s believed that Hamilton’s Ferrari contract runs until the end of 2027, which could make this his penultimate season.