Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari found an issue on both SF-25s after the Spanish GP which “massively” hampered he and Charles Leclerc.

However, acknowledging that discovery ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix was as far as Hamilton could go, as he revealed that he and Leclerc were under Ferrari instruction to stay tight-lipped on the matter.

Lewis Hamilton honours Ferrari silence request on mystery issue

Crossing the line P7 in Barcelona after being overtaken by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg in the closing stages, Hamilton bluntly branded the event “the worst race I’ve had, balance-wise.”

That was after Hamilton had radioed in to race engineer Riccardo Adami shortly after the chequered flag to say: “I believe we’ve got something wrong with this car, mate. It’s the worst it’s ever been.”

And Ferrari’s discovery that this was true gave Hamilton a sense of “relief”, though he was not permitted to go into any details.

Asked ahead of the Canadian GP how much that issue had been affecting he and Leclerc, Hamilton said: “Massively.

“Unfortunately, the team yesterday said they didn’t really want us to talk too much about it, but we both had issues that were hindering us massively from halfway through the race already.

“I didn’t know whether or not we had that problem, but I said on the radio that it was the worst-feeling car I’d ever had – and it truly was with that issue. At the end of the race, I was like, ‘jeez, I’ve never experienced something this bad for such a prolonged time through a race’. It wasn’t until after the TV interviews I got back to the engineers and we found out there was an issue.

“It was a bit of a relief to hear that because I didn’t feel so terrible afterwards.”

F1 2025 driver head-to-heads

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

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

Hamilton gained one position post-race to finish P6, thanks to Max Verstappen’s 10-second penalty for colliding with George Russell, but regardless, the seven-time World Champion from the outside appears in need of a shot of momentum.

And this weekend in Montreal could be the ideal spot, Hamilton having won around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve a record-equalling seven times.

But when asked if he needs a good weekend here to give him a big boost, Hamilton replied: “I don’t feel that I’m searching.

“Of course, a good weekend is always a good thing, but I don’t feel like I’m in desperate need of one.

“I think it looks a lot worse outside than it probably is on the inside.

“Even just coming from engineering now – how they set the car up compared to any other year that I’ve been here is completely different. And having discussions with engineers to change things… There’s a certain way they like to work and it’s ‘hold on a second – that doesn’t actually make sense’. Like, this is what I’ve done for the last 17, 18 years here, and it’s worked in a lot of them.

“So, getting those things to consistently work with the team and making sure you’re working in a constructive way to make changes. The car has a real sweet spot, and we’re trying to get it working at all those tracks, which everyone’s having a struggle with. Yeah. I’m hoping this weekend can be strong.”

Hamilton sits 23 points behind Leclerc in the Drivers’ standings, Leclerc having scored all three of Ferrari’s podiums so far in F1 2025.

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