Lewis Hamilton struggles at Ferrari uncovered as long-time F1 ally speaks out

Lewis Hamilton has not been given the tools he needs to thrive since his move to Ferrari. That's the view of Williams team principal James Vowles who worked with the seven-time Formula 1 champion for a decade at Mercedes.

That driver and team partnership was the most successful in the sport's history, yielding six drivers' title and eight constructors' championship successes. Hamilton had also been champion once with McLaren and, ahead of this season, chose to join Ferrari in the hunt for an eighth crown before his retirement from the sport.

But his first few months racing with the famous Italian team have been very difficult. Despite all the hype around the blockbuster move, Hamilton has struggled to be competitive and his best Grand Prix result to date remains the fourth place he managed at Imola in his first race in Italy as a Ferrari driver.

"Lewis has some elements he needs from a car to feel strength from it, and then it's a confidence build from him that he then is able to generate from then onwards," said Vowles, when assessing why he believes it has been such a tough start to life at Ferrari for his former colleague.

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"I can see it in what’s going on, he hasn't quite got that yet." The Williams chief went on to make it clear, though, that he still believes the 40-year-old will eventually find his groove and deliver the full potential of the Ferrari car underneath him.

Vowles added: "I have zero doubt that he will be on the pace and there. And you can see at times where he is confident, he and Charles [Leclerc] are like this [used fingers to signal a small gap]. Miami is a good example, he was pushing Charles ahead of him.

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"It's just not consistently there, weekend on weekend, but when you're in this and you can see it with Carlos [Sainz, Hamilton's predecessor], you can see with anyone that's adapting to these cars and changing, there's so much to keep on top of and learn as a result of it. It's all possible. It's all adaption."

Hamilton has been looking forward to an upgrade for many weeks now. His wish has been granted at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, though the Brit admitted that Ferrari are not sure whether the new parts will actually increase the car's performance.

He said: "Firstly, I am happy that we have an upgrade, it is always exciting to get new pieces on the car. So I'm really grateful for everyone working hard to bring them, but we don't really know the actual effect it is going to have.

"It's not the normal information we're getting of how much load you've added to the car, it is not necessarily clear, but hopefully it will be a step in the right direction, but I wouldn't think we're expecting it to change a huge amount, but fingers crossed it is better."