Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes for Ferrari before the 2025 F1 season, yet he has seen George Russell score 99 points compared to his 53 ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
The glitz and glamour of the pinnacle of motorsport has descended onto the Principality this weekend for round eight of 24. Yet Hamilton is still to secure a Grand Prix podium finish with Ferrari, while his old Mercedes teammate Russell has already got on the rostrum four times.
Hamilton recorded his best finish for the Scuderia so far in their backyard at Imola as the 40-year-old came fourth in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Imola also saw Russell pen his worst result of the 2025 F1 season so far with P7, having ranked in the top five in every other race.
Nick Heidfeld thinks people ‘don’t like to hear’ Lewis Hamilton’s age is a reason for his problems at Ferrari
A primary cause for his problems since moving to Maranello is Ferrari’s car is unpredictable on low fuel in qualifying. So, Ferrari are working on an unexpected rear suspension change, which they hope can allow Hamilton to rediscover his pace after qualifying P8.7 on average.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
146 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
133 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
124 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
99 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
61 |
| 6 |
Lewis Hamilton |
53 |
| 7 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
Ferrari saw Hamilton eliminated from qualifying in Q2 at Imola, as well, which was even the second straight race he qualified in P12. Yet Ferrari do not understand why their car is faster on used tyres, having confirmed their issue at Imola as Charles Leclerc even qualified in P11.
But while Nick Heidfeld feels Hamilton is capable of reaching greater heights at Ferrari once he is fully comfortable with their car, the former Williams F1 driver concedes the seven-time champion’s age is not in his favour. Heidfeld can see clear changes from even five years ago.
Heidfeld told F1-Insider. “If the car suits him, he can still perform at his best. We saw that in China. But compared to Leclerc, he’s currently lagging behind, especially in qualifying.
“And, of course, even if some people don’t like to hear it, he’s not the youngest anymore. If you compare him to the Hamilton of five or 10 years ago, you can see the differences.”
Lewis Hamilton faces losing back-to-back teammate Grand Prix qualifying head-to-heads to George Russell and Charles Leclerc
Hamilton won his last F1 drivers’ championship in 2020, before coming only one lap short for the 2021 title when Max Verstappen controversially overtook the Briton to claim the crown by eight points. The Stevenage-born star has only won two of his 75 Grands Prix since 2021.
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The Briton has also only added one pole position to his F1 record-breaking 104 since 2021 at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. Qualifying was once his big advantage, but Russell became Hamilton’s first teammate to win a head-to-head for 18 seasons with last term’s 18-6 record.
Leclerc is also leading Hamilton 6-1 in Grand Prix qualifying sessions so far in 2025. The only time that the Monegasque has failed to better the Briton over a single lap came in Shanghai before Ferrari’s double disqualification in China as Hamilton and Leclerc qualified P5 and P6.
