Lewis Hamilton losing trust in the team warning fired to Ferrari by F1 analyst 

Ferrari could lose Lewis Hamilton's trust if they fail to improve, says former Aston Martin race strategist Bernie Collins. She explained that the disqualification in China could be one of the things that could lower the level of trust he has in his new team.

Hamilton quit Mercedes after 12 long years to join hands with Scuderia Ferrari. He believed that was the right move for him to explore more opportunities. However, the beginning of his debut season hasn't matched the expectations just yet.

In Melbourne, he finished P10 after he struggled to control SF-25 in wet conditions. Moreover, in China, despite getting a win in the sprint race, Hamilton struggled during the main race on Sunday and ended up P6, only to get disqualified later as his car was deemed illegal for excessive plank wear.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, former race strategist Bernie Collins has warned Ferrari. She argued that such lapses in decision-making could make Ferrari lose Lewis Hamilton's trust. Talking to Sky Sports, she said (via Planet F1):

“Lewis was really struggling in the car on Sunday, and the car was illegal. The changes in the setup didn’t react in the way he wanted to, or he wouldn’t have been so slow in the race, and they’ve been illegal. So it is a bump. If they go through it and they find whatever’s wrong, then Lewis can get over that pretty quickly. But it’s one of these little things that adds to the lack of trust."

Hamilton joined the team in January and had two months in hand to adjust himself to the new car and new people around him. In a post-race interview in Shanghai, he admitted that he is still learning new things about the Ferrari car every day as its design is completely different from what he had in Mercedes.

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Lewis Hamilton dismisses theories around his car setup during Chinese GP

Lewis Hamilton at F1 Grand Prix Of China - Source: Getty

Lewis Hamilton won the sprint race in China last week, and fans anticipated him to carry forward the momentum. However, his pace disappeared in the qualifying session and the main race on Sunday as Hamilton blamed setup changes as a key factor behind the slump.

However, Hamilton clarified that the ride height of his car wasn't changed as some theories suggested. Talking to Planet F1, he said:

“I don’t know who said that we lifted the car, but no. We made some other changes mostly, as well as that, but not massively; it’s like small amounts. But all the pieces together made it quite a bit worse. Charles tested something in Bahrain, and I hadn’t tested it, but we both went that way, and it was mad. I know not to do that again.”

Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc ended up getting disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix as their cars were deemed illegal in post-race checks conducted by the FIA.