Lewis Hamilton is giving “some very important information” to Ferrari despite his disappointing start to the F1 2025 season.

That is the claim of former F1 driver and Ferrari ambassador Marc Gene, who insists it is “really not easy” for a driver to change teams in modern Formula 1.

Why is Lewis Hamilton struggling at Ferrari?

Hamilton has so far struggled to live up to the hype since his blockbuster move from Mercedes over the winter, finishing no higher than seventh in his first three grands prix as a Ferrari driver.

The seven-time World Champion converted pole position into victory in the sprint race in China last month, collecting only his third win of any kind since the start of the 2022 season.

However, Hamilton was disqualified from the main race in Shanghai for excessive plank wear with team-mate Charles Leclerc also excluded for being underweight.

Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc: Ferrari head-to-head scores for F1 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

The 40-year-old’s struggles continued at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, where he qualified more than 0.3 seconds and four places behind Leclerc.

Speaking after the race at Suzuka, Hamilton claimed that “an element” of his car has been “underperforming” across the first three races of the new season.

It is believed that Ferrari have struggled with the ride height of the SF-25 car with the team set to introduce a floor upgrade at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

Gene, the long-serving Ferrari ambassador who made 36 F1 appearance between 1999 and 2004, has leapt to the defence of Hamilton following his slow start, insisting that the challenge of changing teams cannot be underestimated.

Appearing on F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast, he said: “It’s early days because I’m just getting to know him, but no one can doubt his talent.

“He’s very experienced. You can really see he knows he knows what he needs. That’s why, from Melbourne to China, he made a huge improvement.

“Coming from another team, it’s really not easy.

“With the current Formula 1 where you cannot test, it’s so hard to change teams, to get used to the dynamics, to get used to the steering wheel, that takes time.

“Already in the briefings, when he talks, you can really tell that he’s giving some very important information.”

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Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at the launch of the SF-25 in February, Hamilton admitted that the challenge of adapting to life at Ferrari after 12 full seasons with Mercedes had taken him by surprise.

He said: “It’s completely different. I thought it’s [just] another Formula 1 car.

“I thought it would be [like] when I went from McLaren to Mercedes – there were similarities, but I guess it was still powered by Mercedes, so the sound, the vibration, was all the same, or was similar.

“Whilst there were slightly different characteristics of the car, this is a step with the whole thing being completely different.

“It’s a really exciting experience. This is something I’ve really enjoyed trying to wrap my mind around, particularly also just in settings and the terminology they use, the different ways that they can set up a car – that’s taken some getting used to, for sure.

“It’s rare that you just jump in and it just fits.

“For example, the steering wheel is completely different, everything, all these switches are completely different. The software is different, everything.

“Not only that, I’m having to adapt to that. I am adapting to a car that’s made quite differently from what I’ve worked with in the past to achieve a similar sort of thing.

“The feeling is a lot different. I don’t feel that currently, I’m having to change my driver’s style too much. I’m actually feeling quite comfortable in the car and just taking one step at a time.

“I hope, and we’ll see as we get further down the line at the real race circuits that we go into, just how much aligned and how much change I might need to do.

“But the key is to be open-minded and be dynamic.

“Luckily, with my experience, I should be able to do that.”

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