Criticised for going from “hero to zero” at the Chinese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton says people “completely underestimate” the challenge he’s facing in his early days with Ferrari.

Hamilton won his first race in Ferrari colours in Shanghai when he converted pole position into the Sprint victory, only to get it wrong a few hours later in qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton: Most people completely underestimate what we actually do

Hamilton made setup changes that cost him pace, with the Briton finishing qualifying with the sixth fastest time.

He wasn’t able to recover in the Grand Prix before his day went from bad to worse when he was disqualified from the official classification for excessive wear to his skid block.

“To go from hero to zero at the same track? On the same day?” Jeremy Clarkson wrote in his column for the Sun. “It makes no sense.”

Meanwhile, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was questioned by l’Équipe about whether it was foolish thinking that an older driver could provide a fresh injection of life.

He shut that down, saying: “Thinking that Hamilton is worn out, expired, is harsh. And moreover, it’s false.”

F1 2025 head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Hamilton puts it down to people not grasping the challenges that he is facing in his early Grands Prix with Ferrari, which have included a first outing in the rain and his first long run on the C2 Pirelli tyres.

“I think that outside of that garage most people completely underestimate what we actually do,” he said.

“When we’re talking about setup and changes that we’re making, all the different graphs that you’re looking at for aero, through-corner balance, mechanical balance, roll balance, all these different things that we’re trying to play with and finesse through a weekend.

“After analysing the last two races, the first race I generally didn’t feel great in the car at the beginning, but our pace wasn’t too bad on the first two days; Sunday was the first time I’d ever driven the car in the rain, and I was learning a lot throughout the race.

“Then in the last race, that was the first time I’d actually done a long run. Every other driver here pretty much got to do the Abu Dhabi test and try the 2025 tyre. I didn’t.

“And we went into the race run in Bahrain [testing] and the car broke down. The Sprint race was the first time I’d actually done a 20-lap stint and then in the race it was the first time I’d ever tried the C2, so I was just learning that through a race.

“I was definitely starting to feel the onwards effect of not being able to do the test at the end of the year, and so on reflection I’m quite happy of how I’ve adapted in just those two races. But I’ve definitely got a lot of work to do to make sure that it’s better moving forward.”

Aside from those firsts, Hamilton is also learning how to setup the Ferrari SF25 and admits he made a “wrong” turn in China.

“It’s a combination of probably several different things, but I think mostly just pinning the setup,” he said.

“I told you that I’m still learning about this car, so I still haven’t tested every item that they have yet. Ultimately, I made the wrong decision on setup for the Saturday going into qualifying at the last race, which then I just had to live with for the race.

“If we had just left the car probably alone or actually [if] the step that we did take [had been] an improvement, I think we could have qualified in the top three, which would then have had a much different result, most likely.

“But that wasn’t the case, and it was really difficult to drive from the moment we went out in qualifying and then it was the same balance on a Sunday, so we just had to persevere with it.”

Read next: Leclerc debunks Ferrari theories in ‘never a good thing’ verdict