Valtteri Bottas admits he was wrong about Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari

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Valtteri Bottas has weighed in on Lewis Hamilton’s difficult debut season for Ferrari. Hamilton is struggling to recapture the levels he showed alongside Bottas at Mercedes.

Bottas was by Hamilton’s side for four of his six championship-winning seasons at Brackley. 2017-2020 was the most dominant spell of the Briton’s F1 career.

Eventually, Bottas realised he ‘couldn’t beat’ Hamilton over a full season. But now F1’s most successful driver is at risk of being relegated, at least symbolically, to number two status.

Hamilton hasn’t scored a podium all year, with Charles Leclerc responsible for all seven of Ferrari’s top-three finishes. He has also contributed almost 60% of their points and leads the race head-to-head 15-3.

Valtteri Bottas said Lewis Hamilton wouldn’t have ‘issues’ adapting to the Ferrari

Speaking in February 2024, shortly after the move was announced, an optimistic Bottas said Hamilton was ‘adaptive’ enough to be quick from the outset.

“I’m positive he’s going to do a great job there and shouldn’t have issues getting used to the car, either,” the Finn said. “He’s a pretty adaptive guy.”

Hamilton took pole in his second Ferrari qualifying session and won the Chinese GP Sprint a day later, but that proved to be an outlier. While he’s closed the gap to Leclerc as the year has progressed, he still doesn’t appear comfortable in the SF-25.

• READ MORE: F1 paddock rumour suggests Ferrari could give Lewis Hamilton the Daniel Ricciardo treatment

Now, in an interview with Motorsport Brazil, Bottas acknowledges that the adjustment has taken ‘longer than expected’. But the new Cadillac signing is still hopeful as he looks to 2026.

“It’s always a big change, especially for him,” he said. “He spent a long time at Mercedes, so he got used to the way things work. He was very much the ‘team driver,’ you know?

“So it’s a big change, culturally, in terms of equipment, and language as well. I think everyone agrees that it’s taking him longer than expected to adapt, but he has shown his speed at times. I think next year will show what he can still do.

“He’s already proven everything he could in F1. I think he’ll be fine, he’ll be better next year.”

‘People underestimated Charles Leclerc’, says Valtteri Bottas

Bottas warned Leclerc about Hamilton last year, telling the Monegasque that his new partner was ‘extremely fast and consistent’.

Critics would argue that Hamilton has been neither this year. But Bottas says the strength of Leclerc shouldn’t be overlooked.

“People need to talk, it’s natural,” he said. “But maybe some people have also underestimated Charles, how good he is. So, yes, I think he’ll be fine.”

Former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz says Leclerc is better than Max Verstappen over one lap. He’s also been with the team since 2019, so perhaps Hamilton deserves a measure of credit for outqualifying him seven times over the course of the year.