Lewis Hamilton now has a ‘high probability’ of picking up grid penalties later this season after worrying Ferrari decision made

Lewis Hamilton is still dreaming about standing on the podium for the first time as a Ferrari Formula 1 driver.

Seven race weekends into the 2025 Formula 1 season, Lewis Hamilton has only tasted success in this year’s Sprint Races.

His victory in China and third-place finish in Miami show that the seven-time world champion is still capable of fighting at the very front of the pack.

However, Ferrari simply haven’t given Hamilton or his teammate Charles Leclerc a car capable of challenging for victories.

Ferrari are having serious issues in qualifying, with the SF-25 unable to extract the maximum potential out of new tyres.

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix saw Ferrari make history as for the first time they failed to have a driver start in the top 10 at Imola.

Ferrari are working on a modified rear suspension to try and solve some of their issues, but another problem facing Fred Vasseur’s team is now on the horizon.

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Ferrari concerned about their power units after Haas and Sauber suffer 2025 failures

A report from Formula1.it has shared more details about work going on behind the scenes that will worry Hamilton and Leclerc.

Both drivers have finished every race this season, although they were disqualified for different reasons in Shanghai in an embarrassing moment for the team.

However, Ferrari also supply power units for Haas and Sauber who haven’t been so fortunate.

‘Alarm bells’ rang at Ferrari weeks ago when they saw Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Bearman retire in Miami with engine failures.

At Imola, Esteban Ocon suffered a similar problem, and this explains why Ferrari changed some of the components on both drivers’ power units in Saudi Arabia.

It’s now believed, after the Italian site spoke to sources within Ferrari, that in order to ‘safeguard reliability’ the team will significantly reduce the mileage each of their drivers’ power units does across the 24-race season.

They are still working on potential solutions to the problem, however, it means there will be a ‘high probability’ that Hamilton and Leclerc will receive grid penalties later in the season for breaching the limit on the number of power unit components they’re allowed to use.

It should be said that this isn’t expected to impact the power delivered by Ferrari’s engines, but simply how long the team trust each part to be installed in the car.

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Fred Vasseur faces another Ferrari challenge after tough start to the 2025 F1 season

Each Formula 1 power unit is currently made up of several elements including an internal combustion engine (ICE), a motor generator unit (both heat and kinetic, known as MGU-H and MGU-K), a turbocharger, an energy store, the exhaust and the control electronics.

Over the course of a 24-race season, a driver can’t use more than four of the main components that make up a power unit and more than two control electronics and energy stores.

If Ferrari were already switching some of these elements out at the fifth race of the season, then trouble is on the horizon later in the season.

Sauber and Haas will want Ferrari to get to the bottom of these issues sooner rather than later as they rely on the Scuderia for their power units and have had far less luck than the factory team.

Cadillac will use Ferrari power units in 2026 and will hope Vasseur’s team get the issue under control by next season.

Hamilton and Leclerc will be wondering why Ferrari have fallen so far off the pace compared to last season, and the last thing they need considering their struggles in qualifying is to be pushed even further down the grid due to penalties out of their control.