Lewis Hamilton has opened up about the external scrutiny that Ferrari have faced during the early stages of the season. The Italian constructor have struggled to bring a car capable of fighting McLaren and Mercedes on a regular basis.

“Yes, I mean, on one side it’s to be expected,” he explained, discussing the media scrutiny facing Ferrari. “It’s the greatest team in Formula One history, and it’s that special and, of course, there’s more clicks, there’s more stories that are written about it. And people have opinions, and it’s not always been smooth sailing.

“So I think just from my perspective, you can’t work with a team and change things overnight. And we’ve spent this time to really get to know each other. There are changes that are short term that we will do together — keep all the greatness and keep building the areas that we could be stronger in.

“And some of those could be short term and some of them are longer term. There’s so many great things within this team, and so we want to harness the energy and the passion that’s within the team. We also have to protect the team as well because the spotlight is more on this team than any other team.

“Everyone in this team really, their heart is so in it. We’re riding the rollercoaster ride up and down together. And I have no doubts that we will get to where we plan to be. It’s just going to take time.”