LEWIS HAMILTON’S struggles at Ferrari could be down to a first-time Formula One career change, according to Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok.
The seven-time world champion is yet to score a podium for the Scuderia since switching to the constructor from Mercedes this season.
Lewis Hamilton has struggled in his debut season with Ferrari[/caption]
But Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok, left, has given a theory behind the struggles[/caption]
And it comes down to the braking system used by Ferrari[/caption]
Many pundits have given their theories on why the Brit has had a hard time adapting.
However, ex-F1 star and Sky Sports analyst Chandhok has suggested the problem could be down to the brakes.
Throughout his motorsport career from karting all the way up to F1 with McLaren and Mercedes, Hamilton has used brakes made by Carbon Industries.
Meanwhile, Ferrari use brakes made by Italian manufacturer Brembo, having made its debut in F1 back in 1975.
Speaking ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Chandhok said: “One of the engineers I used to work with in GP2, Mauro, who is now at Brembo working at Ferrari, they were talking about the work they’ve done with Lewis because Lewis had gone through his whole F1 career at Mercedes and McLaren using the Carbon Industries brakes.”
Chandhok, who competed for HRT and Lotus, continued: “As we know, since karting, braking has been a strength for him. It’s something that he really puts a lot of emphasis on for his performance.
“Switching that material to Brembo has given him a different feel. It’s less grabby. You get less bite.
“Mauro was saying they’ve spent a lot of time trying to give Lewis a feeling that he’s more familiar with and more confident with, and they feel like they’ve made some good steps.
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“And I think we’ve seen [this]. What I was pleased with was obviously Monza, braking performance is so critical, and he was there. This is my theory.
“As soon as the entry phase of the corner, if the driver has a better feeling, a more familiar and a more confident feeling, that sets them up for when they have to then turn the wheel and load the car into the apex.”
Hamilton’s struggles continued over the weekend in Baku after being knocked out of qualifying in Q2 following a tyre strategy blunder during a chaotic qualifying which saw a record SIX red flags.
That was further compounded by Hamilton botching a swap order with team-mate Charles Leclerc to finish P8 in the race, which did prompt an apology from the Brit.
Fellow F1 pundit Bernie Collins asked why Ferrari could not simply switch the brake material supplier to help out Hamilton.
In response, Ted Kravitz said: “It’s not about the money but I think they’re an official supplier and they would like to make it work. I mean, they can’t secretly swap out different brake material.”
Collins replied: “Yeah I know but when I worked at McLaren, we ran both for example.”
Chandhok then added: “Actually in the past, they used to split between drivers.
“But I believe it’s because Ferrari historically have been the ‘works’ Brembo team for years and years.”
Ferrari’s last drivers world champion came in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen, who ironically snatched the title from under the nose of then rookie Hamilton and former McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso.
Constructor’s championship wise, Ferrari’s last title came in 2008, the same year Hamilton won his first driver’s title with McLaren.
