Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari nightmare has not long started and he will be hoping that the upcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix helps put an end to his woes.
The seven-time champion has fallen short of expectations so far in 2025 and sits seventh in the drivers’ championship.
Hamilton moved to Ferrari over the winter, harbouring hopes of a historic eighth world title with the Scuderia, which wasn’t a crazy idea given their form last year.
However, ambitious changes to their Formula 1 car have backfired, and they now find themselves in trouble entering the seventh round of the season at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Ferrari are forced to make Hamilton ‘sacrifices’, which have left them struggling for performance during qualifying.
But points mean prizes and Sundays must be their real worry. Ferrari face ‘a lot of problems’ and it’s starting to feel like a tall order to solve ahead of the 2026 F1 regulations.
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Haas refused one Ferrari part which is causing Lewis Hamilton problems in 2025
Ferrari’s struggles also directly impact Haas as a result of their technical partnership with the American team.
Team boss Ayao Komatsu will be encouraged by their start to 2025, which has left them sixth in the constructors’ standings after six races.
Ahead of this season, his team took the decision to reject Ferrari’s new front suspension, which has turned out to be a problem for the Scuderia.
It may have caused some of Hamilton’s issues this year. The Race’s Ben Anderson believes that the layout may be the cause of lockups and understeer.
“We’ve already referenced one, which is the poor low-speed corner performance,” he said. “The car isn’t the strongest traction-wise.
“At times, [it] has been prone to front brake lockups and understeer in such corners. This suggests that a key strength of previous seasons – the mechanical grip of the car is no longer there. That’s bad news for Leclerc’s hopes of a second win on the streets of Monaco later this month.
“It would be easy to point to the switch to pull-rod front suspension for this, and potentially, that has played a part. After all, making such a significant change for the final year of a rule cycle is a risk, and Ferrari’s technical partner Haas opted not to take the 2025 specification front suspension.”
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What can Lewis Hamilton do to help alleviate Ferrari’s 2025 issues?
Part of the reason why Ferrari signed Hamilton is that he brings nearly 20 years of winning experience at the highest level.
His development feedback should help to push the team and the car in a more positive direction. That starts with the incoming changes at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
If they fail to work, Hamilton will continue to be compromised at Ferrari, and he will be left banking on a strong start to 2026.
Otherwise, the last few years of his career are at risk of being wasted competing for fifth, sixth and seventh every week. A legend of his calibre deserves more.
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