Copyright mirror
Lewis Hamilton's former rival has labelled Ferrari "chaotic" but insists the Formula One star's debut campaign with the Italian team hasn't been as disastrous as it appears. Since joining the Scuderia at the beginning of this year, Hamilton 's dream of competing in Ferrari red has largely not gone as he had hoped. Throughout his gruelling first 10 months at Ferrari, the 40-year-old has appeared increasingly despondent. Hamilton has uncharacteristically described himself as "useless," clashed with his race engineer and been unable to secure a single podium GP finish, setting the unwanted record of being the longest-serving Ferrari driver in the team's history without securing one. Last weekend's Mexican Grand Prix epitomised his tumultuous year, where, despite securing third place in qualifying, an incident with Max Verstappen at Turn 4 saw the Briton forced onto the grass, resulting in a 10-second time penalty and therefore an eighth-place finish. Hamilton is now in sixth place in the drivers' championship, 64 points adrift of team-mate Charles Leclerc . However, former F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez believes the racing icon's debut season with the outfit hasn't been poor when considering the wider context at Ferrari. Gutierrez raced against Hamilton while driving for Sauber and Haas, and is well accustomed to Ferrari from his stint as their test and reserve driver in 2015. He joined Mercedes as a development driver in 2018 and has since served as a brand and business ambassador for the Silver Arrows, meaning he also knows the seven-time world champion fairly comprehensively. The Mexican took the positives from his home Grand Prix and voiced his belief that next year will prove different for Hamilton. “It seems he has felt more comfortable with the car this weekend, according to his comments," Gutierrez said on the F1 Nation podcast. "He may not be so happy now, but I definitely think it has been a process. I was at Ferrari and I understand the differences between an English team and an Italian team. "I'll be honest: at Ferrari, there is a lot of passion, but it's well-organised chaos. No offence to them, I love Ferrari, in fact, we all love it. I think every driver's dream is to be a Ferrari driver deep down in our hearts. "Winning with Ferrari is a much bigger challenge than winning with any other team. That's why all the champions who haven't been champions with Ferrari and are trying to get to Ferrari to become champions have a hard time. "It's not easy, so in my opinion, from that perspective, Lewis' performance this year hasn't been as bad as it seems. I hope he can use this year as experience and take another step forward next year.” His comments come ahead of next year's regulation changes, which could potentially favour Hamilton, as it will reset all drivers in 2026. Despite his positive outlook, Gutierrez's relationship with Hamilton was not always as healthy as it is now. In 2016, the former Haas driver hit out at Hamilton, then still at Mercedes, for making a rude gesture while overtaking him at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton was left seething with Gutierrez, who ignored blue flags and delayed him while he was engaged in a tense battle for the lead. “He must be aware that people are looking up to him and if he wants to give a good example this is not the way to do it,” an unhappy Gutierrez told Sky Sports News HQ after arriving in Hockenheim for the German GP. “It's also not a good thing to criticise an opponent who is trying to do his best and trying to do the safest thing. He must be aware he has a car which is much more superior to my car. But for him being a world champion it is even more important in his position to give the right example - not only to kids but to the world.”
