Ferrari have discovered ‘critical’ issue in Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc data before Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari endured a woeful start to the 2025 Formula 1 season at the Australian Grand Prix. After a fourth-row lock-out in qualifying, they picked up just five points in the race.

Toto Wolff believes Ferrari have more pace than they showed in Australia qualifying, as does McLaren boss Andrea Stella. But the near-seven-tenth gap to pole position is inescapably alarming.

At the start of the race, Charles Leclerc managed to pass the midfield high-flyers of Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon, climbing up to fifth. Hamilton stayed P8 and couldn’t clear the Williams.

Ferrari initially stayed out on slick tyres during the shower in the closing stages of the race. But they blew a potentially significant haul of points by delaying their stops.

Leclerc and Hamilton slipped towards the lower reaches of the points as a result. Fred Vasseur’s team head to the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend down in seventh in the constructors’, below last year’s wooden-spoon collectors Sauber.

Ferrari are even slower than 2024 in medium-speed corners – alarming for Lewis Hamilton

Analysis undertaken after the Australian GP shows that Ferrari gained 0.7 seconds, and around 12km/h, in the high-speed sections at Albert Park relative to 2024. But they regressed sharply in the medium speed.

As pointed out by AutoRacer’s Giuilano Diuchessa, Ferrari’s data shows a four-tenth loss in that department. As it stands, one could argue that the SF-24 is better than the SF-25 in the average corner.

For reference, Lando Norris’ pole time of a 1:15.096 was nearly nine-tenths quicker than Max Verstappen’s 1:15.915 benchmark in 2024 Australia qualifying. That underscores the rate of improvement.

Ferrari are behind the curve right now, and while it’s possible that balance changes can unlock innate performance, this could be a time-consuming process that costs them crucial ground in the championship. Indeed, their margin for error has already narrowed considerably.

Martin Brundle has flagged up Lewis Hamilton concern ahead of Chinese Grand Prix

Another concern for Ferrari heading into round two is the dynamic between Hamilton and race engineer Riccardo Adami. Their tense exchanges at Albert Park predictably made it to the world feed broadcast.

Peter Windsor can’t believe Hamilton didn’t find a solution to the communication issues during the Bahrain test. He had to explain that he only wants information when he asks for it.

Still, Martin Brundle questioned why Hamilton was so ‘angsty’ with Adami. If the duo can’t form an effective working relationship, it will clearly hold the seven-time world champion back.

His partnership with Mercedes engineer Peter Bonnington was the most successful in the sport’s history. But it’s far too early to cast any judgement on Adami, who previously worked with F1 legend Sebastian Vettel.