Lewis Hamilton ‘refuses’ to join list of champions to fail with Ferrari

Hamilton has not landed a podium in Ferrari colours – a streak of 12 races – the deepest into the season he has ever gone without a top-three finish.

He is sixth in the standings, 131 points off the championship pace at the midway stage of his debut Ferrari campaign.

Following the British Grand Prix, Hamilton said he staged meetings with all of Ferrari’s key figures – including chairman John Elkann and team principal Fred Vasseur – and submitted two documents outlining his vision as to why the Italian giants are not up to speed.

Ferrari’s last world drivers’ title came in 2007, with their most recent constructors’ crown the following year.

Speaking ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton, 40, said: “I see a huge amount of potential within this team.

“But it’s a huge organisation, and there are a lot of moving parts. And not all of them are firing on all the cylinders that they need to be.

“That’s ultimately why the team has not had the success that I think it deserves. So, I feel that it’s my job to challenge absolutely every area, to challenge everybody in the team, particularly the guys that are at the top who are making the decisions.

“If you look at the team over the last 20 years, they’ve had amazing drivers. Kimi (Raikkonen), Fernando (Alonso), Sebastian (Vettel) — all world champions. However, they didn’t win a world championship. (Raikkonen did in 2007).

“I refuse for that to be the case with me. So, I’m going the extra mile. If you take the same path all the time, you get the same results. So I’m just challenging certain things. There’s still a lot of improvements to be made, but they’ve been very responsive.”

Hamilton, who has a two-year deal at Ferrari with an option for a third, will hope an upgraded rear suspension for Sunday’s race at Spa-Francorchamps will improve his fortunes.

He concluded: “I’m here to win. I don’t have much time but I truly believe in the potential of this team.

“I really believe they can win multiple world championships moving forward. That’s my sole goal.”