Lewis Hamilton was disconsolate at the end of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after another difficult race at the beginning of his Ferrari career.
However, there was a distinct difference between Lewis Hamilton’s P7 finish in Jeddah, and Ferrari’s other displays this season.
There’s a reason that Ferrari currently sit fourth in the constructors’ championship, and it’s because their car isn’t performing as well as many expected.
Hamilton’s victory in the Sprint Race in China was an outlier, but the team’s double disqualification a day later was a huge setback in the team standings.
Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
1 |
Oscar Piastri |
99 |
2 |
Lando Norris |
89 |
3 |
Max Verstappen |
87 |
4 |
George Russell |
73 |
5 |
Charles Leclerc |
47 |
6 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
38 |
7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
31 |
8 |
Alexander Albon |
20 |
9 |
Esteban Ocon |
14 |
10 |
Lance Stroll |
10 |
Unfortunately, the car isn’t as competitive as he or Charles Leclerc hoped, but the Monegasque driver showed the SF-25’s potential at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Leclerc secured Ferrari’s first podium of the season, while Hamilton couldn’t find his way past either Mercedes driver, and sits 16 points behind his teammate.
It brought to an end a 168-race streak for Hamilton that he wouldn’t have wanted to happen so early in his Ferrari career.
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Sam Bird tells Lewis Hamilton what ‘homework’ he needs to do at Ferrari
Formule E driver Sam Bird was speaking on the Chequered Flag Podcast after the race in Saudi Arabia about the seven-time world champion’s performance.
He explained: “It’s difficult to hear people say that Lewis Hamilton is lost.
“The fact that he’s won over 100 Formula 1 races, but he doesn’t look comfortable. He really doesn’t look comfortable. He doesn’t sound comfortable.
“There’s nothing positive at the moment coming from him. There’s no glimmers of well, we were good on this stint, and we were good in this phase of the race, it was just all quite ordinary, unfortunately.
RANK | DRIVER | TEAM | POINTS |
1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 25 |
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 18 |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 15 |
4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 12 |
5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 10 |
6 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 8 |
7 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 6 |
8 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 4 |
9 | Alex Albon | Williams | 2 |
10 | Isack Hadjar | RB | 1 |
“I’m a massive Lewis fan, I’ve supported him for many a year and I’ll say that time and time again and he is world class.
“But, right now, he is not comfortable in that Ferrari and it’s really showing and it’s sticking out especially when you’ve got Charles Leclerc doing drives like today and looking completely at one with the car and dragging it to a podium when Lewis is finishing 30 seconds back.
“I mean, he’s got to be doing some homework now back in Maranello and asking questions. How is Charles extracting miles more out of this car than me? What do I need to do differently? How can I change my driving style? What tools is he using? What setup is he using on the other side of the garage? Because I need to be making some changes.”
READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory
Lewis Hamilton running out of time to adapt to Ferrari’s 2025 Formula 1 car
The issue Hamilton faces is even more difficult to overcome than what some of the sport’s rookies are being tested with this year.
The likes of Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto might be new to the sport, but everything they learn at each race weekend is new to them.
However, Hamilton is trying to disassociate more than a decade of working with Mercedes and adapting to their cars in a very short amount of time at Ferrari.
Driver | 2024 Team | 2025 Team |
Jack Doohan | N/A (Alpine reserve driver) | Alpine |
Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Ferrari |
Esteban Ocon | Alpine | Haas |
Oliver Bearman | N/A (Ferrari reserve driver) | Haas |
Isack Hadjar | N/A (Red Bull reserve driver) | Racing Bulls |
Liam Lawson* | Racing Bulls | Red Bull |
Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | Sauber |
Gabriel Bortoleto | N/A (McLaren development driver) | Sauber |
Kimi Antonelli | N/A (Mercedes development driver) | Mercedes |
Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | Williams |
*Liam Lawson has since returned to RB, replaced by Yuki Tsunoda
Hamilton has suggested he’s struggling with Ferrari’s brakes because they come from a different manufacturer than the brakes he used at Mercedes.
On top of this, Ferrari can’t make changes to Hamilton’s power unit to help him with the engine braking that is giving Leclerc a marginal advantage going into each corner.
These marginal details are all adding up, and it’s lead to the 40-year-old looking devastated at the end of the race in Saudi Arabia, with David Coulthard suggesting Hamilton’s realist outlook because a negative rather than a positive.
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