Formula 1 News: Engineering suggestions from Hamilton ‘useless’ – Arrivabene

(GMM) Maurizio Arrivabene (pictured) has taken a swipe at Lewis Hamilton’s habit of sending Ferrari detailed technical “dossiers” – something the Italian says is counter-productive and historically meaningless.

Hamilton’s approach to offering engineering ideas is understood to have irritated parts of the proud Maranello based team during the difficult 2025 season.

Speaking on Sky Italia’s Race Anatomy, Arrivabene said he had seen this behavior before. Referring to Sebastian Vettel’s era, he said: “Vettel sent out such dossiers. He wrote, talked, shared everything.

“But it was almost useless. I don’t want to say anything bad about Sebastian, but everyone has to mind their own business. A driver’s job isn’t just to drive, but also to help develop the car. But if he starts playing engineer, that’s it… it’s time to turn off the lights.”

Arrivabene stressed that drivers – including multiple world champions – simply lack the technical depth to meaningfully shape factory development.

“The drivers arrive, work for two or three days in the simulator, and get a general idea of how the car is being developed. But the devil is in the details,” said the former Ferrari team boss.

“A Formula 1 car has over 50,000 components that interact with each other according to complex logic. Therefore, everyone must play their part. When the car is on track, the driver must provide relevant feedback so the engineers can improve the car, especially if it has potential.”

The comments land at an awkward moment for Ferrari, as Hamilton’s relationship with the Scuderia has obviously strained during a season full of frustration, miscommunication, and mounting retirement rumors.

Adding to the picture, Italian reports claim part of Arthur Leclerc’s FP1 program in Abu Dhabi last Friday involved testing a revised steering wheel concept promoted internally by Hamilton.

He is said to dislike the overly complex, button-heavy layout and rotary logic inherited from the Vettel era and still present on the current Ferrari wheel.