Lewis Hamilton experienced an uncomfortably familiar story in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. He’d looked a close match for teammate Charles Leclerc in Q1 and Q2 but fell away in the top 10 shoot-out.
Hamilton ended up eighth on the grid, three-tenths and four places behind Leclerc. He was beaten by midfield driver Isack Hadjar in the Racing Bulls car.
Last year, the 40-year-old’s average qualifying position was 8.5. While he took Sprint pole in China, this is the second time he’s begun a Grand Prix on the fourth row for Ferrari.
Speaking on Thursday, Lando Norris said Hamilton wasn’t yet comfortable at his new team, and that was in evidence here. At this stage, it’s too early to say whether it’s a natural adaptation process or a continuation of his single-lap struggles from 2024.
Lewis Hamilton is facing the same ride-height frustrations he had at Mercedes
Hamilton admitted after qualifying that Ferrari have had to raise their ride height for the Japanese Grand Prix. Clearly, this will negatively affect downforce levels.
This comes he was thrown out of the Chinese GP for excessive wear on the skid block beneath the car. Fred Vasseur’s team have tried to ensure they won’t ‘make that mistake again’, in the words of Ted Kravitz.
But this will still frustrate Hamilton, who used to lobby his old team Mercedes to lower the car. He complained about understeer in the SF-25 on Saturday.
It should be said that Leclerc will be in the same boat, by necessity. Ferrari overhauled their car during the winter and are still trying to optimise it, more so than McLaren and perhaps Red Bull and Mercedes too.
“They’ve had to make compromises – a higher ride height for Lewis Hamilton,” Kravitz said on his Notebook. “They’re not going to make that mistake again.
“We haven’t asked Lewis directly, but in China was Lewis saying ‘I think we can go lower with the car’, and Ferrari wanted to make that happen for him? Obviously, the margins were too tight.
“When we’re only talking about half a millimetre, obviously the margins were too tight. It’s not uncommon.
“I remember at Mercedes when Lewis was always wanting the car to get lower and lower and was frustrated when they were saying ‘we can’t go lower, we’ll wear the plank out’.
“I think it’s part of the relationship-building between Hamilton and Ferrari. If Lewis is saying ‘can we go lower and lower?’, Lewis knows that when they say no – I’m not suggesting this is what happened, but it’s got a feel of inevitability, he admitted today it’s a bit higher than he would have liked – he just has to have it at that position.”
F1 cameras catch moment of anger for Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton at Japanese Grand Prix
Ferrari mechanics tried to lift Hamilton’s spirits before the race weekend following the China disqualification. But there were signs of frustration from the 40-year-old during qualifying.
Mark Webber noticed Hamilton gesticulating at his team in the garage when they were slow to place the screens either side of the halo. He sounded relatively calm after the session.
But at the moment, it doesn’t look as if the Ferrari is any better than the Mercedes. In fact, George Russell has largely had the beating of both Scuderia drivers this season.
Hamilton’s replacement Kimi Antonelli outqualified him for the first time on Saturday, another positive sign for the Silver Arrows at the start of their new era.
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