Hamilton ‘grateful’ Ferrari are going through challenging process with team 'doing a lot of building'

Lewis Hamilton says that he is "grateful" for his current struggles at Ferrari in order to build a solid foundation with the team, and that "there are a lot of changes that need to be made that we're working towards".

The seven-time World Champion joined the Scuderia at the start of the 2025 campaign, creating a collaboration that has been highly scrutinised due to the success both Hamilton and Ferrari have enjoyed in the past.

But the 40-year-old Briton has struggled during the opening half of the season, failing to reach the podium in the 10 Grands Prix so far and generally lacking pace compared with team mate, Charles Leclerc.

Despite taking pole and the victory in the China Sprint, Hamilton has had to field questions about his lack of performance in Ferrari's SF-25, and ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, he stated that he was looking at the bigger picture.

Hamilton said: "Would we prefer it if we were straight away just winning races? I'm sure people in the garage wish we were straight away winning but I think, for me, I'm grateful we're going through this process.

"We're doing a lot of building, there are a lot of changes that need to be made that we're working towards.

"I'm focused more on changes in the background, foundation building stuff that we need to put in place in order to have a better 2026."

Hamilton also confirmed that Ferrari has brought a floor upgrade for the event this weekend, but that it was difficult to say how much difference it would make to bring Ferrari closer to the leading teams.

"You always want upgrades so I'm grateful for every little bit, whether it's small or a big piece," Hamilton added. "What I would say is don't expect much change.

"Hopefully tomorrow we'll find something that we didn't expect but again, we don't really know. Hopefully it will be a step forward in the right direction and I think that's the most important thing, that we are moving forwards."

Ferrari currently find themselves third in the Constructors' Championship, just 16 points behind Mercedes, thanks in part to three podiums for Leclerc this season.

The Monegasque driver will miss FP1 as his seat during the opening practice session on Friday will be taken by Ferrari Academy Driver, Dino Beganovic.

"We've got upgrades coming this weekend so it's a bit more of a positive feeling, hoping that this will close the gap to the guys in front," said Leclerc.

"Apart from that we're just fully focused on how we can maximise this weekend. That's always the goal.

"I'll be missing FP1 so that will also be important to recover those lack of laps in FP2 and FP3 but I'm not too concerned about this. It's a track that I enjoy and hope that we can start to turn the situation around a little bit and challenge a bit more in front."