Lewis Hamilton‘s high-profile switch to Ferrari has not exactly been the smoothest transition to date, but one clause on his new contract could go some way to explaining this.
Hamilton joined the Maranello outfit at the start of the 2025 season, and has so far managed a highest finish of P5, doing so in Japan, but has otherwise struggled to get the best out of the car.
Except for a fine win in the sprint race in China, Hamilton has finished 10th, disqualified, seventh, fifth and seventh since joining on a £60million-a-year deal.
But a bedding in period is always to be expected, regardless of the fact Hamilton is perhaps the greatest to ever drive a Formula One car.
Having spent so long with Mercedes, the transition to wholly new system, structure and set of hardware is bound to throw up the odd hiccup, and he has only had five races to date to come to terms with his new team.
Much of that could be down to a clause in his contract, though, which prevents Ferrari from approaching anyone from Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has not been an instant success so far in the 2025 campaign
Aside from a Sprint Race win in China, Hamilton is yet to finish higher than P5 in a Ferrari
His contract includes a clause preventing his new side from approaching anyone at Mercedes
For example, Hamilton is this year without his long-term race engineer Pete Bonnington – another change the seven-time world champion has to come to terms with.
For all that though, there is one familiar face in the Ferrari garage for Hamilton, however.
Angela Cullen left Mercedes back in 2023 but has been reunited with Hamilton, having previously been one of his chief confidantes and assistants.
The two are thought to have a very close relationship, with the Ferrari driver once describing her as ‘the single hardest-working woman that I get to be around’.
Hamilton’s struggles are to be expected then, given the drastic change in scenery for a man who had spent over a decade with Mercedes, and the inability to bring with him any to make that transition smoother.
Yet despite finishing behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in every single race so far, Hamilton still retains the support of his new team.
‘I will give him support and we will start straight away to find solutions,’ said Ferrari principal Fred Vasseur at the weekend.
‘I am not too worried. Have a look at what he did in China or what he did in Bahrain last week or even in the first part of the session this weekend. The potential is there for sure.
The seven-time world champion has not yet finished higher than team-mate Charles Leclerc
Hamilton does however retain the support of Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur despite his slow start
‘He’s down because he finished seventh and his team-mate is on the podium. It is positive that Lewis is down because if he was happy it wouldn’t be normal.
Asked why Ferrari’s form had dipped so far, Vasseur exclaimed: ‘Dramatically!? We have done five races so far.
‘I know that you won’t have the big headlines tomorrow that Fred said this… but this (analysis) is f****** bull****.
‘You have ups and downs. When we have an up, we are not world champions. When we are down, we are not nowhere.’