09/05/2025 13:50
Carlos Sainz has revealed that there are up to "15 or 20 things" F1
drivers must re-learn after moving teams, amid Lewis Hamilton's
struggles at Ferrari. Hamilton took Sainz's seat for 2025 at the
Scuderia, bringing to an 11 seasons of using Mercedes power in the
turbo hybrid era and using Ferrari units and modes for the first
time. As he has struggled for pace, Hamilton has explained that one
area in particular he is struggling with concerns the use of engine
braking, something he seldom used at Mercedes but is a key part of
the Ferrari's braking systems. As Hamilton tries to lose the
Mercedes muscle memory, Sainz has detailed at length the sheer
scale of minute differences between cars, as he himself has
struggled to adapt going the other way from using Ferrari units to
Mercedes at Williams. "For me, this is just one of the 15 things
that you have to re-learn," Sainz explained to media, including
RacingNews365 , when presented with Hamilton's comments on the
engine braking problems he has. "Some teams like to use engine
braking to turn the car, others just prefer using more
differential, and others prefer to use brake migration. "With
others, the set-up of the car and putting front-end with the
aerodynamics, others with mechanical and others with pitch or ride,
you cannot imagine the amount of variability to make the car do a
similar lap-time in so many different ways. "That might be one of
the 15-to-20 things I'm still trying to figure out and of course I
am trying high-engine braking in the Williams to see if it works.
"I'm trying differential maps, I'm trying mechanical balance, I'm
trying everything every week to see what the car likes and what it
doesn't. "There are things which suit your style, others that don't
and I enjoy that process which you are going to get wrong many
times, but as long as you enjoy and embrace it and know you will
get it wrong a few times, when you click and get it right, it is
actually an Eureka moment that it feels good and makes sense."
