Lewis Hamilton is starting to ‘put his foot’ down at Ferrari following a less than impressive start to life at the Italian giants, according to one former F1 champion.

The Brit made the blockbuster switch from Mercedes to the Scuderia following the conclusion of the 2024 campaign, but his initial excitement has slowly turned into frustration as the season has gone on. 

Hamilton has yet to feature on the podium on any of his 12 outings in red, and has cut a dejected figure for much of the year as he struggles to put his finger on what has been going wrong.

However, 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes recent performances have highlighted that he is making significant steps in the right direction.

“Lewis is slowly but surely putting his foot down, making this his team,” he told F1.com. 

“That is very important for what’s coming next.

“He’s getting in a more comfortable place for himself. He has a lot of experience, he knows what it takes, and he’s biding his time.

“It was tough and he hasn’t collapsed, so that’s good. He’s always been a very emotional driver, but it seems that he’s passed the deep wave, so he might be on the up wave right now.”

Hamilton targets podium at Belgian GP
Hamilton goes into this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix off the back of a heartbreaking result in front of his home fans at Silverstone last time out.

The 40-year-old produced a terrific drive in testing conditions to put himself in contention for a podium finish, but was pipped to third spot by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, who pulled off arguably the biggest shock of the year to secure a maiden top-three result. 

Hamilton is currently sixth in the drivers’ standings between team-mate Charles Leclerc and the man who replaced him at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli.

With his chances of delivering a historic eighth world championship over for another year, the 105-time race winner is already turning his attention towards ensuring he is in prime position to compete in 2026.