Martin Brundle: Lewis Hamilton needed long-standing Mercedes personnel around him at Ferrari

Martin Brundle believes that Lewis Hamilton may have needed to bring some of the close members of his team from Mercedes with him to Ferrari to replicate Michael Schumacher's success at the Maranello outfit.

The British driver joined Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season after a 12-year stint with Mercedes, during which he secured six of his seven drivers' championship titles.

Since joining the Italian squad, Hamilton has struggled to adapt and has yet to finish on the podium in a grand prix. While he celebrated the sprint race win in China at the start of the season, his best grand prix finish this year is fourth in the Emilia Romagna, Austrian, British and United States Grands Prix.

"It has probably been more difficult than Lewis hoped or thought it would be at Ferrari," Brundle told Sky Sports F1.

"He wanted to go there and do a Michael Schumacher. But Michael went with Ross Brawn, Jean Todt, Stefano Domenicali and the brilliance of the Ferrari team, and it still took a number of years to turn them around."

Brundle argued that Hamilton could have seen an easier adaptation to the Scuderia if he had been able to bring some of his long-standing team members with him, such as his Mercedes race engineer Peter Bonnington, affectionately known as Bono.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

"I think Lewis needed more people around him," Brundle added. "He was so embedded at Mercedes, he probably had 101 things around him every day that he probably didn't even notice - the infrastructure, the focus. It would have been great had Bono and some others gone with him."

Three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, who joined Brundle on the Sky Sports F1 broadcast, added: "He has still got it, but across a whole season this year it hasn't gelled, hasn't clicked. I think a lot of that is the culture, it has been a huge adaptation [at Ferrari].

"If performance is there, he might get a new lease of life. Given the right material, I don't doubt he can perform in the environment."

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.