Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said it will “take time” for Lewis Hamilton to “settle in” at Ferrari as he struggles for form.

But, while Hamilton’s rookie replacement at Mercedes Kimi Antonelli is in that same process of getting to grips with the new task at hand, Wolff said it would be “not fair” on Hamilton and Antonelli to make a “comparison” beyond that.

Lewis Hamilton: Settling in at Ferrari a matter of ‘time’?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Hamilton re-wrote the F1 history books as a Mercedes driver, claiming six of his record-equalling seven World Championships with the Silver Arrows, but having headed to Ferrari in hope of revitalising his career, Hamilton is yet to hit the heights many were hoping for.

Only three times so far in F1 2025 have Ferrari made the podium, and all of those visits have been courtesy of Charles Leclerc. Hamilton’s Sprint win from pole in China is one of the few highlights so far.

But Wolff pointed to China as a reminder of what Hamilton is capable of.

“I think Lewis has joined a new team and it’s going to take time to settle in,” Wolff told TSN.

“But he’s already shown great races like in China.”

Antonelli, meanwhile, has made a strong start to life at Mercedes, the 18-year-old academy graduate taking on the daunting task of succeeding Hamilton, Formula 1’s most successful driver.

However, while Wolff sees a similarity in how both Antonelli and Hamilton are going through the settling-in process, he urges that is where the “comparison” between them must stop.

“And same for Kimi,” he continued. “He’s 18, and hopefully has a long career in front of him in Formula 1.

“So, I think that comparison is not fair for either.”

Antonelli has scored 48 points across his first nine race weekends as an F1 driver with Mercedes, placing him P7 in the Drivers’ standings, a position behind Hamilton.

“The trajectory is absolutely correct,” Wolff declared on Antonelli.

“I think we’ve seen he has the pace, but you don’t want to have a young driver that’s in there to impress on tracks he doesn’t know in his first season. He just gets better and better through the week and it’s what we have hoped for and he’s delivering that.”

F1 2025 driver head-to-heads

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

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

But, Antonelli has experienced tougher times over recent rounds, and is on a run of three race weekends without scoring.

The Italian was forced to retire his Mercedes W16 in Imola and Barcelona, while in Monaco a first-lap collision with Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was an unwanted incident on his way to P18.

Speaking following the Spanish Grand Prix, Antonelli said it was time to pick himself back up and go again in Canada this weekend.

“Now, obviously, I have time to reset,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com. “To reset the mind and everything.

“And will try to gather all the learning, all the information, in order to be back stronger for Canada.

“Canada is going to be a completely different track, completely different tarmac, closed tarmac, and back with the C6 [tyre], so it’s going to be important to understand more the behaviour of it.

“And on my side, now the goal is try to put everything together. Because I think the potential is there. I mean, also qualifying, on that last lap, the potential to finish further up was there. It’s just, also, because I had only one set, but, I didn’t really put everything together, but it was still nice to kind of get back into the rhythm, especially after two difficult weekends with the qualifying.

“So now, the confidence is getting back.”

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