How Hamilton "shook the system" at Ferrari, but it couldn't fulfil all his wishes

When you hire a seven-time world champion with two decades of F1 experience, you know you are not just hiring a driver.

Fred Vasseur knew full well that by bringing in Hamilton last year, rekindling a working relationship from the ART Grand Prix days in GP2, he would subject Maranello to a force of nature. A single-minded veteran knowing full well what he does and doesn't make him tick, having been used to 12 years of engineering excellence at Mercedes and moving to a team hadn't seen title winning success in its current iteration.

At 41, Hamilton's Ferrari revival has been one of the standout stories of the 2026 F1 season. To Ferrari, it has also been a shock to the system.

Over a difficult 2025 campaign Hamilton struggled to click with his new environment. Not through a lack of trying, but because the car, the engineering set-up and other elements of how Maranello operated didn't mesh with what he had been accustomed to.

Hamilton wanted to see a team that was pushing the boundaries much more on innovation, helping team boss Fred Vasseur push through a cultural shift to become less risk averse. Hamilton also credited Vasseur with "moving mountains in order to make me comfortable", from shaking up his engineering team to switching brake configuration.

That's easier said than done at a 1000+ staff organisation, which can be resistant to change and take years to turn around. And F1's cost cap also means squads have to be smart and efficient about any drastic changes at the factory that compete with the team's development budget.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

Speaking exclusively to Autosport, Vasseur revealed that he couldn't accommodate every change Hamilton had asked for. 

When asked if there was ever any hesitation given the number of changes Hamilton requested, Vasseur laughed: "Yes, but we didn't do everything that he wanted! But suggestions are always welcome. That's true for Lewis, it's true for Charles. It's true for every single driver. After every single event they are coming with a list of things that they would like to improve.

"On this list, some are out of the scope, because you can't do this for the team, and they can understand very quickly that from a team perspective, it makes no sense for the cost cap or whatever it is.

"Sometimes they don't have the full vision of the situation, but at least it's good for me to understand where they are feeling we are weak. And sometimes with their input you understand something because you were focused on the team vision, and you understand that for the drivers it's a bit different."

Vasseur admitted Hamilton's arrival was a shock to Ferrari's system. But the Briton's extensive Mercedes stint, knowing what a title winning outfit looks and operates like, was beneficial to the overall development of the team as it aimed to attack the 2026 regulations head on.

"It's good to shake the system a little bit," Vasseur explained. "If you stay in your bubble all your life with the same people, at one stage you will struggle to improve. It's true for the drivers. It's true for the engineers when you recruit people from other teams.

Ferrari's SF-26 is packed with innovation, including a widely copied exhaust winglet.

Photo by: Marcel van Dorst / EYE4images / NurPhoto via Getty Images

"This is the nice side of F1, that we have three or four teams able to put a car within 0.050s in sprint qualifying in Zandvoort, taking different directions with a different concept on the car, different engines, different strategy, and so on. At the end of that, we are all in the same ballpark. That's why sometimes recruiting people from other teams with a different vision helps.

"The most difficult part is to consider the integration of these guys as an added value, not as a disturbing process. But it's true for the engineers. It's true also for the drivers. If you can take the best from their know-how, you will improve."

Between Hamilton and Leclerc, who is on course to become Ferrari's most tenured driver during the 2027 season, Vasseur feels he has a "very open discussion" on where the team needs to go next.

"One of the key qualities of drivers is to be able to contribute to the development of the team," he said. "The worst-case scenario is that when you start the discussion and you have the feeling that the other is trying to find an excuse, but when you have a good relationship, it's never an excuse.

"I think we have this positive attitude to help each other and to understand that the other can have a different view. I'm not always right. I'm not always wrong, and it's only by collaboration, discussion, exchange that we will improve."