Martin Brundle shares how Ferrari now privately ‘feel’ about Lewis Hamilton’s start to the 2025 F1 season

Lewis Hamilton is now five race weekends into his career as a Ferrari Formula 1 driver, but it hasn’t been the start to life at Maranello that he would have dreamed of.

His victory in the Sprint Race in China after a difficult debut at the Australian Grand Prix would have given those within Ferrari plenty of hope that Lewis Hamilton was getting up to speed even quicker than many would have expected.

Hamilton put in long hours at Ferrari’s factory during pre-season to try and get to grips with a new team and a completely new set of procedures, processes and parts compared to his time with Mercedes and previously McLaren.

However, it soon became clear that his victory in Shanghai was the exception rather than the rule, and even though his disqualification during Sunday’s race in China wasn’t his fault, it sums up the luck he’s currently dealing with.

Martin Brundle didn’t completely buy Hamilton’s post race comments after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion started seventh and finished seventh, only allowing Lando Norris to pass him and getting the better of the man he replaced at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz.

Team principal Fred Vasseur was disappointed with Ferrari’s qualifying efforts in Jeddah, and pinpointed why he thinks Hamilton may be struggling more than teammate Charles Leclerc.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Martin Brundle shares Ferrari’s private feeling about Lewis Hamilton

Brundle was speaking on Sky Sports F1 (20/4 4:53 pm) ahead of the race in Saudi Arabia with Hamilton lining up three positions behind his teammate.

He explained what he’d been told by the team in a private meeting ahead of the Grand Prix and shared, “Ferrari used an analogy today to say to us when Crofty and I were having our raceday briefing, that it’s like putting on someone else’s skis or ice skates, or something like that.

“It takes a bit of time to get used to them, and that’s how they feel about it.”

Brundle was then asked how Hamilton managed to win the Sprint Race in China if he’s struggling so much and elaborated, “Different tracks, the Sprint is a much shorter race of course, much less fuel onboard, he got out front and he stayed out front.

“It looked like, I think I described it on the day as vintage Lewis Hamilton, and that’s how it seemed.

“And you’re thinking, ‘Wow, he’s back in business, he’s back in the game!’, but sadly, it’s not turned out to be that way since then with the longer Grand Prix format.”

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Lewis Hamilton benefits from one Ferrari positive no other F1 team can match this season

Hamilton is going to benefit from having plenty of time to get up to speed at Ferrari, his experience and previous success means he’s never going to end up in the same position as Liam Lawson at Red Bull at the beginning of the year.

With 19 race weekends remaining, there’s still plenty of time for Hamilton to prove that he’s got what it takes to match and even beat Leclerc.

One thing that Ferrari are nailing this season are their pit stops.

Hamilton was only stationary for 2.1 seconds in Jeddah, and Leclerc’s stop was even quicker.

While those visits to the pit lane weren’t decisive in Saudi Arabia, they’ve recorded the fastest pit stops at every Grand Prix so far this season, and it won’t be long before they begin to make a crucial difference.

It’s then up to Hamilton and Leclerc to take advantage of this significant improvement.