Lewis Hamilton’s situation at Ferrari is becoming “critical” as the seven-time World Champion has yet to gel with his new Ferrari machinery in his debut campaign with the Italian stable.

That’s according to former F1 driver Karun Chandhok.

Reality has overwritten the hype for Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton shocked the world of motorsport last year when he announced that he would leave Mercedes after 12 years and six World titles with the Brackley squad to race for Ferrari in F1 2025.

The change of scenery was said by many to be just what Hamilton needed to reinvigorate him after a trying period with Mercedes in which the sport’s most successful driver claimed just two wins in three years.

Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari was also billed as the final piece of the puzzle in the Italian stable’s search for a first World title since 2007.

Reality has overwritten the hype.

Nine race weekends into his Ferrari career, there have been more lows than highs for Hamilton and his new team.

Although he claimed pole and the victory at the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint, he’s yet to join in on the Sunday champagne celebrations with a best result of P4 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Notably downbeat in interviews that have been all too similar to those given during his final season at Mercedes, his troubles culminated in a tense interview after the Spanish Grand Prix in which the Briton told Sky’s Rachel Brookes that he doubted Ferrari would find a problem with the car.

F1 2025 head-to-head stats: Ferrari battle

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

“It’s just,” he said, “it’s probably just me.”

Falling further behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ standings in Spain, with 71 points to the Monegasque driver’s 94, Chandhok claims the situation is becoming critical for Hamilton.

The former F1 driver puts that down to the 40-year-old’s fluctuating performances, which highlight his struggle to find the “sweet spot” with the SF-25.

“It’s starting to get a bit critical,” he declared on Sky F1’s The F1 Show podcast.

“We’re coming into the second third of the season now, and he’s not finding the rhythm. He’s not finding consistency where week in, week out, he’s in a happy place in the car.

“In Imola, he was woeful in qualifying, then suddenly the car’s brilliant in the race. In Monaco, he wasn’t quite there. He was a chunk behind Charles throughout.

“There’s got to be a degree of concern creeping in. When you look at Spain, the fact that Charles overtook him and drove away from him quite comfortably, even before we go into the different tyres and stuff later on.

“If I was on the Lewis side of the garage, I would be concerned. We are nearly at halfway through the year now, we need to start understanding whether this a fundamental issue, that we need to change the direction of the set-up of the car.

“I’m not disputing that he’s still got the ability. He clearly does. He’s able to win races, we saw that in China, but they need to find a sweet spot for him, where every weekend he knows what he’s got, and they haven’t got that.

“He’s still having too many good days and bad days. The fluctuations are too much.”

This weekend, Hamilton returns to one of his favourite hunting grounds, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The Briton is a seven-time Canadian Grand Prix winner, although his last victory in Montreal was back in 2019.

Chandhok’s fellow pundit David Croft believes this is the weekend that Hamilton needs to show Ferrari, and himself, that he can turn it around.

“I think the next race is quite critical for Lewis because Canada is a place he goes so well at,” said Croft. “It’s a place he loves. He got his first pole and first win there.

“This is Lewis Hamilton’s track. If he has another down day, like you did in Barcelona, then there are issues.

“If anyone can do it and turn it around, the seven-time World Champion that is Lewis Hamilton can definitely turn that around.”

Hamilton sits P6 in the current Drivers’ Championship standings, one position and 23 points behind Leclerc.

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