Martin Brundle explains why Lewis Hamilton “won’t feel any pressure” at Ferrari

Martin Brundle doesn’t think Lewis Hamilton will “succumb” to the pressure of being a Ferrari F1 driver ahead of his first race with the team at the Australian Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has dominated F1 since his first appearance at Maranello in January.

Since then, Hamilton has enjoyed an extensive testing programme to get up to speed with his new team.

Hamilton hopes Ferrari will continue on their recent upward trajectory, where they narrowly missed out on the F1 constructors’ championship last year.

The 40-year-old is eyeing a record-breaking eighth F1 title with the Scuderia.

Looking ahead to the new season, Brundle thinks Hamilton will be able to handle the pressure of being a Ferrari driver.

“I don’t think Lewis will feel any pressure,” Brundle said. “He’s been there, seen it, done it, won it. Won seven championships. He will not succumb to that ‘my goodness, I am a ferrari driver, The expectation is high’.

“Leclerc has been there six, seven years. He knows where all the green buttons are, knows how to make things happen at Ferrari”

Familiar faces will help Hamilton at Ferrari

While Hamilton will be without long-term race engineer Peter Bonnington, who has remained at Mercedes, he has been joined by Angela Cullen at Ferrari.

Cullen has resumed her role as Hamilton’s physiotherapist for the upcoming year.

Cullen was a key part of Hamilton’s inner circle during his success with Mercedes from 2016 to 2023.

Marc Hynes is also Hamilton’s manager.

The former racing driver played a role in the launch of Project 44,  the company which manages Hamilton's business affairs.

“Lewis is new in. He’s taken along with him Angela again now, his physio and Marc Hynes is back with him,” Brundle added. “Lewis has put as much around him as he can, knowing he’s going into a completely different culture of a team and he’s got to find his way. A new engineer as well. Peter Bonnington stayed at Mercedes.

“That’s a lot to take onboard, especially when your teammate in Leclerc is so fast and so embedded in the team.”