Charles Leclerc just explained why Lewis Hamilton is struggling at Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has been struggling to find performance at Ferrari in 2025. It has not been the start to his stint in Maranello that he would have been hoping for.

The seven-time champion’s struggles in qualifying have persisted from 2024 this season. Hamilton has only qualified on the front three rows once all season.

His woes continued at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he could only manage seventh for Sunday’s race. The most alarming aspect of his performance was the deficit to his teammate Charles Leclerc.

The Brit was over half a second behind the Monagasque driver, who qualified P4 in Jeddah. Martin Brundle says Hamilton is ‘falling away’ rather than making progress at Ferrari – he was outqualified by Carlos Sainz, whom he replaced, in the Williams.

Hamilton has been noticeably struggling all weekend, with the Jeddah Corniche Circuit clearly not suiting the SF-25. Despite putting his car fourth, Leclerc was also having trouble – and he may have the reason for his teammate’s woes.

Charles Leclerc says ‘grip was lacking’ for Ferrari during qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Hamilton’s difficulties were made apparent during FP3 when he was significantly off the pace in all sectors of the track. Brundle was not surprised Hamilton was ‘shocked’ by this fact as he could build a strong lap in his Ferrari.

Sam Bird noticed Hamilton using two sets of tyres in Q1, showing that he was struggling to find the right performance window to produce an encouraging time.

It seems Leclerc has found the answers to his teammate’s problems. Speaking with Canal+ after qualifying, the Monagasque driver said a lack of grip was hindering him.

“I’m disappointed once again, it’s been like this all season. Very hard car to drive, we need to work,” he said,

“I’m satisfied with my laps but the grip is lacking. For tomorrow you don’t hope for much because in the race it will be hard to gain positions. But if we do a good start, why not?”

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Lewis Hamilton has serious work to do at Ferrari

The 40-year-old’s woes in Saudi Arabia are deeply concerning as he looks miles off the pace of the likes of McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull. Damon Hill was perplexed by Hamilton’s comments in Jeddah as he said driving the SF-25 was ‘alien’ to him.

Frederic Vasseur said Hamilton struggled like Lando Norris in Bahrain, as his mistakes led to tyre temperatures going up and a snowball effect occurring.

The Brit will be desperate to find improvements in the race and put some valuable points on the board. Hamilton has scored 25 points thus far in 2025, 52 points behind championship leader Norris.

Sebastian Vettel says upgrades could transform Hamilton’s season as he insists people should not write him off just yet. But it is clear Ferrari have to act fast before their drivers fall too far behind.