EXCLUSIVE: Sebastian Vettel lifts lid on invisible barrier between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari glory
Sebastian Vettel has lifted the lid on the invisible barrier Lewis Hamilton must overcome for success at Ferrari.
The seven-time world champion arrives at Maranello hoping to deliver the Prancing Horse its first drivers' title since 2007.
Vettel knows better than most the challenges of chasing glory at Ferrari. Having won four-straight titles at Red Bull, Vettel moved to Ferrari to chase the same dream, but failed.
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"It's big. Anybody who changes team, it's a big move. New people you work with is probably the biggest one," he told Wide World of Sports.
Hamilton spent the whole of his 12 year Mercedes tenure working with race engineer Peter Bonnington. At Ferrari, he will work with Vettel's former engineer Riccardo Adami.
Lewis Hamilton in action for Ferrari during pre-season testing in Bahrain. Getty
But the second "shift" might be somewhat harder to overcome.
"It's a different culture. Obviously most of the teams are English, only two are Italian. That's probably the biggest shift," he explained.
Driving for Ferrari is widely considered one of the hardest challenges on the grid. Drivers are worshipped by fans, and the media scrutiny is particularly intense. Whereas the sport is consigned mostly to the sport section elsewhere in the world, Ferrari news often takes up prime real estate at the front of newspapers and websites.
Vettel spent six years at Maranello from 2015. He twice finished second in the drivers' standings in 2017 and 2018.
The 2018 result was particularly difficult – he sat atop the standings for a large chunk of the season, but crashed out of the lead of his home German Grand Prix and never recovered.
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel after the Brit secured his seventh drivers' title at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix. Getty
Fernando Alonso was another multiple world champion who couldn't deliver at Ferrari. In his five years there, he finished second three times, and arguably should've won in 2010 and 2012.
Vettel said driving for Ferrari was particularly special for him, having grown up idolising his countryman Michael Schumacher.
"I grew up watching Michael. He was my hero and he was most of the time in red, so to me it felt different because of that," he explained.
"I'm not sure Lewis had the same dream, but I think it's special for anyone who gets the chance to step into the red car."
Hamilton's Ferrari career will officially begin at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Practice begins on Friday.
