Lewis Hamilton didn’t become a seven-time Formula 1 champion by not pulling off some incredible performances across his racing career.
Ever since Lewis Hamilton delivered nine consecutive podium finishes in his first nine Grand Prix starts, it was clear he was capable of producing some special results.
His start to life as a Ferrari driver hasn’t quite gone to plan, with the Scuderia falling behind the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes in the pecking order.
Team principal Fred Vasseur would have hoped for a stronger start to the year after being reunited with Hamilton for the first time since their GP2 days, but unfortunately, it’s been a disappointing start.
Hamilton and Charles Leclerc being eliminated in Q2 was the last thing Ferrari wanted in front of the Tifosi at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Ted Kravitz thinks Ferrari staff will disagree with Hamilton over one of the issues he was complaining about on Saturday.
It was the team’s worst-ever qualifying at Imola, but Hamilton more than made up for it during the race.
The 40-year-old delivered an unbelievable performance to finish P4 and if the race had been slightly longer, he might have fancied his chances of catching Oscar Piastri and finally securing his first podium for the Scuderia outside of a Sprint Race.
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Lewis Hamilton delivers a glorious Ferrari radio message at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
As he crossed the line in fourth in front of thousands of cheering fans, Hamilton said, “What a great race, guys. Fantastic stops, strategy, the car felt great today.
“I’m so grateful, so proud. Grazie tutti, and for the Tifosi, that was for them.
“Let’s keep pushing and get that qualifying better and we can race like that, and then we’ll be winning.”
His race engineer Riccardo Adami replied, “Those overtakes were explosive,” to which Hamilton replied, “Yeah I pushed it mate, I pushed it.”
Marc Priestley suggested Hamilton may have a problem Ferrari can’t solve this season, and while the car still appears to be inconsistently quick, the highs seem to outweigh the lows at Imola on race day.
As the seven-time world champion pointed out, figuring out why they’re so slow in qualifying now has to be the priority.
However, the middle of a triple-header of races with Monaco on the horizon isn’t the best time to start experimenting.
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Can Ferrari fix Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s new tyre complaints?
Hamilton and Leclerc have discovered this season that the SF-25 isn’t at its quickest on new tyres.
It makes qualifying particularly difficult, and Hamilton has suffered back-to-back Q2 exits as a result.
However, while Ferrari know what the issue is, fixing it is an entirely different matter.
| RANK | DRIVER | TEAM | POINTS |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 25 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 18 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 15 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 12 |
| 5 | Alex Albon | Williams | 10 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 8 |
| 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | 6 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 4 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 2 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 1 |
Ferrari are working on modifications to the rear of their car which should help with the car’s balance and potentially their tyre warming.
The season is moving at a rapid pace and given how wide-ranging the technical changes are for 2026, eventually, a tipping point will be reached where Ferrari have to abandon this year’s car.
Hamilton is very upbeat though, and while that might not make a huge difference to those working on updates in Maranello, it suggests that plenty of hope remains in the camp that they can make a significant step forward in the coming weeks and months.
