Lewis Hamilton reveals what Ferrari colleagues kept telling him during 25-race podium drought

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Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari remained ‘so positive’ even as he went a full season without a podium. It took Hamilton until last month’s Chinese Grand Prix, his 25th race for the team, to finish in the top three.

Unsurprisingly, given the team’s historic stature, this was the longest a new Ferrari signing had ever had to wait for a first podium. Charles Leclerc scored eight in the same period as Hamilton, the most successful driver in F1 history, toiled.

Hamilton had recorded at least five podiums in each of his first 18 F1 seasons. And as if to make his drought more painful, he finished fourth four times without ever cracking the top three over a full-length race, the first time this has happened since Rubens Barrichello at Jordan in 1994.

Lewis Hamilton praises ‘immense’ support from Ferrari

Speaking to F1TV at the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton expressed his gratitude to Ferrari.

While the Scuderia couldn’t deliver a race-winning car last year, they would also have expected more from Hamilton, particularly given his salary (in excess of £50m per year).

It hurt Hamilton that he wasn’t ‘delivering’, but the team kept reassuring him that the podium would come ‘next time’. In the end, the change of regulations may have been necessary to truly revitalise him.

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“The team have been amazing the past year, particularly in the garage,” he said. “The support has been immense.

“Every weekend I fell short last year, you come back, you feel gutted that you’ve often not been able to deliver for the team. They were always like, ‘Next time, next time.’ They’re always just so positive and supportive.”

Jenson Button says Lewis Hamilton is finally ‘at home’ at Ferrari

Prior to the Japanese GP, Jenson Button said his former teammate finally looked comfortable at Ferrari. Hamilton had spent 12 straight seasons at Mercedes before making the move.

He set a record for the most appearances at a single team, so the adaptation was always going to be difficult, even before one considers the culture shock of racing for an Italian team for the first time.

Sebastian Vettel urged Hamilton to learn Italian before he joined Ferrari, having experienced the ‘huge difference’ between the Maranello outfit and the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull team.

“I think he’s just at home now,” said Button. “[Last year was] the first year with a new team. He’d been with Mercedes for so many years, and then to move to another team – not just another team, it’s Ferrari, and it’s a different country.

“Even for someone like Lewis, it takes a minute, but it’s great to see that he’s got his confidence back this year, and he’s really pushing Charles.”

Hamilton finished a somewhat disappointing sixth at the Japanese GP, but has nearly tripled his points tally from the same stage last season (41 vs 15).