Former Ferrari boss Arrivabene dismisses Hamilton's team notes as 'useless'

Former Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has sharply criticized Lewis Hamilton's approach to helping the Scuderia, labeling the seven-time champion's detailed notes on team improvement as "almost useless." This rebuke comes after Hamilton revealed he had compiled extensive suggestions following Ferrari's winless 2025 season, which saw the team drop from second to fourth in the standings.

Why it matters:

Arrivabene's comments highlight a classic tension in Formula 1 between driver feedback and engineering authority. His dismissal questions the effectiveness of a top driver's off-track analysis versus the traditional model of real-time, on-track feedback. For a struggling Ferrari, this public critique from a former leader adds pressure on Hamilton's method of instigating change and underscores the internal challenges the team must navigate to recover.

The details:

• Hamilton had promised to "go the extra mile" for Ferrari, stating he had "so many notes" on areas needing improvement and expressing hope the team would act on them.
• Arrivabene, who led Ferrari from 2014-2019 without winning a title, compared Hamilton's initiative to similar "dossiers" once provided by Sebastian Vettel, which he found largely ineffective.
• He argued that drivers should focus on providing relevant feedback from the car on track, leaving targeted improvements to the engineers, stating, "When a driver starts playing engineer, that's it. Then it's really over."
• Arrivabene emphasized that simulator work gives only a "general impression," while true progress lies in the detailed, track-specific data and collaboration.

The big picture:

This exchange reflects Ferrari's ongoing struggle to harmonize star driver input with technical execution, a theme during Arrivabene's own tenure when the team failed to convert competitive cars into championships. Hamilton's proactive note-taking represents a modern, involved driver's attempt to catalyze progress, but it clashes with a more traditional, hierarchical view of team roles. The effectiveness of his approach will be a key subplot in Ferrari's efforts to climb back from a disappointing season.

What's next:

All eyes will be on whether Ferrari's current leadership, under Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur, values and implements Hamilton's suggestions or aligns more with Arrivabene's skepticism. The team's performance in the coming season will be the ultimate test of whether detailed driver analysis can translate into tangible on-track improvements or if it becomes another piece of ignored "paperwork" in Maranello's history.