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Sebastian Vettel advised Lewis Hamilton to truly learn Italian for Ferrari success, but Hamilton seemingly chose a different approach, causing tension at Maranello.
Sebastian Vettel with Lewis Hamilton (Credit: X)
Sebastian Vettel has lifted the lid on the one piece of advice he handed Lewis Hamilton before the Brit packed his bags for Ferrari.
And no, it wasn’t ‘bring patience’.
Hamilton’s decision to ditch Mercedes for Maranello for 2025 sent shockwaves through the F1 universe.
The hype? Off the charts. Expectations? Sky-high. Reality? Let’s just say the honeymoon phase ended faster than a Ferrari pit stop on a good day.
Ferrari narrowly missed the 2024 constructors’ title to McLaren, and Hamilton arrived after his toughest season in years, even though he still nabbed two wins. But the SF-25 hasn’t exactly rolled out the red carpet for him, and Hamilton’s ‘talking stage’ with the car has been more awkward than a first date in silence.
Sure, he’s been more competitive with Charles Leclerc since the summer, but the key moments keep slipping away.
Vegas summed it up: qualified dead last, salvaged eighth, helped by McLaren’s double DQ.
Vettel’s cheeky advice: learn Italian — properly
Vettel knows the Ferrari initiation rites well. His own move from Red Bull in 2015 brought wins, title fights, and eventually the familiar Ferrari fade. But looking back, he spotted one crucial misstep and it’s exactly what he warned Hamilton about.
“The soul of Ferrari is Italian,” Vettel told Beyond the Grid.
“And sure, the official language is English, but plenty of people don’t speak it well.
“You get by, but do you really get the people? The culture? I learned Italian, but I wasn’t perfect. I should have pushed harder, really lived it.
“So I told Lewis: learn the language — really, really well.”
Hamilton’s approach ruffles a few feathers
Hamilton, as one may know by now, didn’t follow Vettel’s playbook.
Instead, he basically conducted a full Ferrari audit in an effort to help end the championship drought. And as expected, some inside Maranello apparently weren’t thrilled.
By the time Vegas rolled around, chairman John Elkann had reportedly told both Hamilton and Leclerc to “talk less.”
The result? Hamilton qualified last. I guess the message was possibly lost in translation.
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term…Read More
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term… Read More
November 26, 2025, 8:26 PM IST
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