Former F1 world champion Damon Hill has shared a heartfelt message for Lewis Hamilton, as he reacted to the Brit's emotional words to Ferrari fans after the Bahrain Grand Prix. Hill insisted that the 7x world champion will come good at the Italian team, as 'he is still Lewis Hamilton'.
Hamilton had a relatively positive outing with Ferrari during the race at Sakhir on Sunday, as the 40-year-old managed to come from P9 on the grid to finish P5 at the end of the race. But Hamilton was led down yet again by qualifying form, as his struggles on the Saturday meant that he could only manage a ninth-placed starting spot, while his teammate Charles Leclerc was on the front row.
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In a video posted by Ferrari's official Instagram account on Monday, Hamilton apologized to the tifosi for a poor qualifying performance at the Bahrain GP. But the Brit also highlighted all the positives from the weekend and promised the fans to continue working hard to deliver better results for the team.
Damon Hill reshared this video via his instagram story and added a heartfelt note, explaining the struggles a driver can have after switching teams. The 1996 world champion also claimed that Hamilton would come good at Ferrari, given he has the right personnel around him.
"Settling in to a new team is hard. Disorientating, strange. Its easy to lose bearings, familiar landmarks etc. It takes a while. But he is still Lewis Hamilton. Needs a good engineering team with him, and to accept, this will be different from what he's been used to."
![Screen grab from Damon Hill's instagram story [via instagram/96f1champ]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2025/04/9a83c-17447399548910-1920.jpg)
Speaking to numerous media outlets after the race, Hamilton consistently mentioned that he did manage to find a good balance with his car in Bahrain, and that he wishes to build on this going forward. Overall, Hamilton and his side of the Ferrari garage left Bahrain with more positives than negatives, with just the veteran's qualifying form still in question.
Fred Vasseur emphasizes need for collaborative effort with Lewis Hamilton
Speaking after the Bahrain GP, Ferrari chief Fred Vasseur shared that Lewis Hamilton and the team are working closely together to build their car in the right direction. The Frenchman was referring specifically to the 7x world champion's apologetic words after a poor qualifying result on Saturday.
Hamilton apologized profusely to his team over the radio after qualifying for the Bahrain GP. Vasseur highlighted this, to suggest that the driver is open to introspecting in order to improve and adapt to his new environment. He said [via PlanetF1.com]:
“The DNA of our sport is to try to do a better job and I think it’s good to have Lewis with this mindset: ‘OK, I have to improve also myself and to adapt myself to the car'. We will work on the car and develop the car to Lewis – but he has also to do a step."
"I think this between us is done in a positive way and a very constructive way," he added.
As previously mentioned, most of what Hamilton mentioned after the Bahrain GP was of a positive nature, as the Brit looked hopeful for a turn of fortunes in the near future. Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari will get an opportunity to test themselves out again this weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as the final leg of the 2025 season's first triple-header.
