Ferrari now have a ‘complete’ theory about why Lewis Hamilton is ‘totally struggling’ to adapt to their 2025 F1 car

Ferrari will be glad that the intense start to the 2025 Formula 1 season has finally come to an end to give the team time to reflect on the first five race weekends.

After looking promising in pre-season testing, Ferrari will be disappointed that they sit fourth in the constructors’ championship at this stage of the campaign.

Charles Leclerc secured the team’s first podium of the season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while the highlight of Lewis Hamilton’s short Ferrari career was his Sprint Race pole position and victory in China.

Unfortunately, both drivers have a lower points tally combined than both McLaren drivers already, almost certainly ending their hopes of challenging for either championship.

Leclerc finally appears to have cracked this year’s Ferrari, and was imperious throughout the race in Jeddah, accelerating away from both Mercedes cars and Lando Norris in the closing stages to secure third.

Hamilton, on the other hand, had to settle for finishing in the same position he started, scoring six points from seventh after being overtaken by Norris, but finding a way past Carlos Sainz’s Williams.

The aim for Hamilton is to understand some of the difficulties he’s having with his Ferrari, and the team believe they know what’s going wrong and causing him to be so far off his teammate’s pace.

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Lewis Hamilton ‘totally struggling’ with a ‘complete loss of balance’ in his Ferrari

Journalist Ian Parkes was speaking on the RacingNews365 Podcast after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix about addressed Hamilton’s tough race in Jeddah.

Sharing what he heard in the paddock, Parkes said, “I asked Fred Vasseur in their post-race media sessions, what has happened to Lewis since he claimed pole and the Sprint victory in China.

“Where has that form gone over the four Grand Prix that have followed, bearing in mind of course, we had the Chinese Grand Prix and of course, this recent triple header.

“The predominant, overriding factor for Ferrari it would appear to be is that a complete loss of balance within that car that Lewis Hamilton is totally struggling with right now, and this has lead to this mindset over these past couple of weekends where he’s at a loss to know what to do.

“So, hopefully for him and the team, that they can look at everything and when it comes to Miami, deliver him a car that he might hopefully be feeling that bit more comfortable with and hopefully they’ve been able to recover some of this balance loss that has been discussed.”

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Lewis Hamilton admits Miami Grand Prix will be a ‘struggle’

The seven-time world champion was despondent after the race in Saudi Arabia, and Martin Brundle didn’t buy what Hamilton said in his post-race interview.

Talking after the race, via The Race, Hamilton said, “In qualifying it’s [a question of] me extracting performance. In the race today, I tried everything, and the car just didn’t want to go quicker.

“I think I’ll struggle also in Miami. I don’t know how much longer I’ll struggle for but it’s definitely painful.

“At the moment there’s no fix. So… this is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year. It’s going to be painful.”

Hamilton’s comments sound just as downbeat as his final season with Mercedes, when qualifying was identified as a problem for the 40-year-old.

He can’t allow Leclerc’s upturn in form to distract him from the work he now needs to do behind the scenes with the team.

Hamilton has proved throughout his career just how talented he is, but he now needs to discover the correct set-up earlier in each race weekend, and fix the balance issues Vasseur referred to.