Lewis Hamilton has endured a challenging start to his Ferrari career, which is so far failing to live up to the hype.

And with qualifying increasingly becoming an area for concern for Hamilton once more, it is being reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport that Ferrari’s new creation, the SF-25, “goes into crisis” when low fuel and slow corners combine.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari: ‘Crisis’ flaw playing key role?

While Hamilton did win the China Sprint from pole, such highs have not been replicated, with Hamilton yet to finish a grand prix ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, while at the two most recent rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the gap to Leclerc over one lap surpassed half a second.

That has led to a string of concerning comments from Hamilton, claiming there is “no fix” for a “painful” season to come, to hinting that the Ferrari bosses were losing patience, and predicting that he will “struggle” at the upcoming Miami Grand Prix.

Hamilton has said he is struggling to gel with a Ferrari SF-25 which feels “alien” to him after 12 seasons with Mercedes, but reportedly, a critical flaw to the Ferrari challenger has been uncovered, one which would certainly not be helping his cause.

Only once so far in F1 2025 has a Ferrari made the top three in qualifying, and La Gazzetta dello Sport are reporting that when the SF-25 runs with minimal fuel, the slow-speed sections of a track become a major problem, as the car “goes into crisis” when it is looking for mechanical grip in such conditions, as would be the case in qualifying.

The report adds that the Ferrari SF-25 is ‘particularly sensitive’ to changes in ride height.

Hamilton’s disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix back in April, due to excessive plank wear on his Ferrari, flagged up ride height as an issue for the team, with Hamilton admitting at the following round in Japan that they were running the SF-25 “higher than we would like” in response.

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The bumpy road encountered by Hamilton at the start of his Ferrari career, plus his downbeat nature in recent rounds, led to six-time grand prix winner Ralf Schumacher suggesting that Hamilton could call time on his F1 career if this trend continues.

However, Hamilton – when speaking to a London crowd after cutting the ribbon on the new Fanatics Collectibles flagship store – made it clear that he was not throwing in the towel.

“Please keep your fingers crossed. I’m not going to give up,” he declared.

“We’re going to keep getting better. Still we rise, right?”

Hamilton sits P7 in the current Drivers’ Championship standings, two positions and 16 points behind Leclerc.

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