Jolyon Palmer seriously concerned Lewis Hamilton is now suffering with ‘similar’ issue that caused Mercedes downturn

Lewis Hamilton will hope that the break between the races in Jeddah and Miami has given him ample time to reset after a difficult first triple-header as a Ferrari driver.

Ferrari haven’t started the 2025 Formula 1 season in the manner they would have liked, aside from two standout moments.

The latter came courtesy of Charles Leclerc who achieved the team’s first Grand Prix podium in Saudi Arabia.

However, Lewis Hamilton taking pole position and winning the Sprint Race at the Chinese Grand Prix has given the seven-time world champion and his army of fans hope to cling onto.

Ferrari have discovered design flaws in their car that appear to limit its potential when set up too high.

Unfortunately, Hamilton’s disqualification for excessive plank wear in Shanghai has put the team on the back foot, and while a new floor was delivered in Bahrain, it’s not completely solved their issues.

Hamilton will be aware that the car’s unpredictable behaviour isn’t the only reason he’s struggling, as he’s some way off Leclerc, particularly in qualifying.

Jolyon Palmer believes he’s identified one ‘concern’ that caused Hamilton trouble during his final years at Mercedes.

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Jolyon Palmer identifies Lewis Hamilton’s issue that he suffered with at Mercedes

Palmer was a guest on the latest F1 Nation Podcast and reflected on Hamilton’s first five races as a Ferrari driver.

The 40-year-old is 16 points behind Leclerc in the drivers’ championship, and seven points worse off than his replacement at Mercedes; Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Speaking about Hamilton’s tough start, Palmer explained, “I mean, he says he’s just struggling to feel the limit of the grip of the car, he’s struggling to find a balance, and he’s just struggling to feel when the car is at its peak and not going over either axle with understeer or oversteer.

“When the car was working for him, he looked like the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

“But he’s just struggling to feel the grip in it at the moment and struggling to feel where he can explore more potential out of it on the corner entries, the mid-corner, the exit, your three phases.

“And it’s all a big headscratcher for him right now. It doesn’t feel that dissimilar to what was happening to him last year in the Mercedes though, which is a similar thing.

“He’d be looking good one minute and the next, he’d just be scratching his head wondering where the actual speed has gone.

“I’d say the concern for Lewis is that the performance obviously isn’t there, apart from that Sprint in China, and he doesn’t understand now.

“He’s had quite a lot of races to look at the data, he’s working with the team. And actually, he was the most downbeat he’s been after Saudi. Still not understanding how he can extract more from the car he’s got.”

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Ferrari have exposed Lewis Hamilton to his worst nightmare with their 2025 F1 car

Hamilton’s problems at Mercedes have existed throughout the ground-effect era, and he’s not the only driver who has struggled in the past few seasons to adapt their driving style.

Daniel Ricciardo suffered a similar issue during his time with McLaren and RB before losing his seat, but Ferrari are unlikely to take the same action as the Australian’s last employers.

The seven-time world champion has struggled to find the limits of his cars in qualifying for the last two years, with George Russell comprehensively beating him in their head-to-head last year.

He’s not helped by Leclerc’s previous experience racing for Ferrari, as well as being a one-lap expert, which is emphasising the gap between them.

Ferrari haven’t fixed a key issue with Hamilton’s car that is hampering him at the start of this year.

But what might worry the team even more is Hamilton is asking for the opposite changes to Leclerc with his set-up, suggesting he’s not completely confident he knows how to fix the problems he’s facing.