Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton went into the Spanish Grand Prix with high hopes after a positive qualifying session.
Lewis Hamilton outqualified his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc for only the second time since his move from Mercedes, excluding Sprint Races.
Leclerc chose an unusual strategy of not running for a final time in Q3 to save an extra set of tyres for Sunday’s race.
Nico Rosberg spotted Hamilton dealing with an issue in qualifying that was worse than any other driver was experiencing, such are his struggles with the SF-25.
However, he was hopeful that the Spanish Grand Prix might be his first opportunity to finish on the podium as a Ferrari driver.
Hamilton made a great move on George Russell going into the first corner and was able to initially accelerate away from his old Mercedes teammate.
Unfortunately for the seven-time world champion, he was never on the same pace as Leclerc and was quickly humbled by the Monegasque driver.
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Charles Leclerc’s unheard radio message a concern for Lewis Hamilton at the Spanish Grand Prix
In the opening laps of the race, Leclerc quickly found his way past Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Russell before he started closing up to Hamilton.
Unfortunately, the 40-year-old couldn’t find an immediate answer to his balance issues and was seeing Leclerc quickly approach him in his wing mirrors.
Leclerc was then asked on the team radio: “How much faster could you go? Question.”
He replied: “Guys, I’m sacrificing my quali to be fast in the race.
“It’s not to then slow us down in the race. So, yeah. You can choose how much faster I go, I can only tell you if I have more.
“I’m stuck to this gamma.”
Leclerc then received the message: “We swap the cars on the main straight, Charles. Swap the car on the main straight.”
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Lewis Hamilton frustrated on the team radio during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend
Hamilton and Leclerc were given one last chance to fight further up the grid after Antonelli’s Mercedes failed and ended up bringing out the safety car.
Both drivers were able to switch onto soft tyres, with Max Verstappen forced onto the hard compound.
However, as Leclerc moved forward, Hamilton slipped back behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber which is the perfect summation of his struggles.
Hamilton wasn’t happy with the team on the radio earlier in the race weekend, but wasn’t quite as unhappy as the Dutchman when he realised he was on the slowest tyre.
The 40-year-old will be desperate to find a way to match Leclerc’s race pace sooner rather than later.
His previous teammate Russell suggested Ferrari should have signed Verstappen instead of Hamilton if they wanted the quickest driver alongside Leclerc this season.
It’s unlikely that a move for the Dutchman was ever on the cards and team principal Fred Vasseur will never admit that signing Hamilton was a mistake.
But despite Ferrari making gains on Mercedes and Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, Hamilton fell further behind his teammate and will have to listen back to Leclerc wondering why he was so slow.
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