Lewis Hamilton has newfound respect for career rivals Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso as 7x F1 champ gets used to life at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that now he has a newfound respect for former rivals Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso as he gets used to life at Ferrari. The 7x world champion has not been someone who has changed multiple teams throughout his career.

On the contrary, the driver spent 6 years with McLaren from 2007 to 2012 and then moved to Mercedes in 2013. The marriage with the German squad was quite successful, and as a result, the partnership would last 13 years. Despite being a part of the sport for close to two decades, Lewis Hamilton has only been with two teams in his career.

Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, on the contrary, made moves more frequently in their careers. Changing teams is something that's not easy at all. At the same time, it requires a period of adaptation as well. Lewis Hamilton is currently going through it at Ferrari and has shared how he has ended up respecting his career rivals a lot more.

Notably, both Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have raced for Ferrari but neither achieved the kind of success that they aspired for. Alonso finished as runner-up to the champion thrice while he was on the team while Vettel did so twice. Neither were however able to take the next step and win the title. Talking about the two rivals, Lewis Hamilton told the media, including RacingNews365,

"It has given me even more appreciation of Sebastian [Vettel] and Fernando [Alonso] joining here and we've watched over the years of drivers moving around and some moving around a lot more than others."

He added,

"I've always thought to myself like for me, I know how long it has taken, I know how long it takes to build trust and grow within a team and grow with people as I experienced with Mercedes. I experienced that with McLaren, and I really cherish the longevity that I had within those spaces and the bonds that we created, they don't happen overnight."

Lewis Hamilton on his move to Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton opened up about his move to Ferrari and termed it arguably the biggest move anyone could make in the sport. According to the British driver, the move means that he's got to be willing to elevate every aspect of his game to make this work. Detailing the challenge, he said:

"This step is huge, it couldn't be any bigger, the organization is massive and the passion adds to it from the fans and the people within for that desire to win, and you don't want to let people down. I decided to come into this year and my resolution and mentality was: 'I need to elevate absolutely every area on my side,' and it is not just: 'This is who I am'."

Lewis Hamilton is chasing a record-breaking eighth world title in F1 with Ferrari and the 2025 season could be crucial for that.