Lewis Hamilton skilled one more underwhelming weekend in what has been a difficult debut season with Ferrari, because the seven-time world champion might solely salvage a sixth-place end on the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix.
Whereas teammate Charles Leclerc benefitted from Max Verstappen’s post-race penalty—handed down after a collision with George Russell—to safe a podium in third, Hamilton discovered himself overtaken by Nico Hülkenberg in a Sauber. The German, who had began down in fifteenth, handed Hamilton on Lap 65 of 66 and managed to drag away by almost two seconds earlier than the chequered flag. The Briton had began the race from P5, but his tempo hardly ever threatened the frontrunners. By Lap 10, Ferrari instructed the Briton to let Charles Leclerc via, a sign of the clear tempo disparity throughout the workforce.
Lewis Hamilton suspects a shift in Ferrari’s inner assist as frustrations mount
In keeping with studies from Corriere della Sera, Hamilton is starting to really feel an unsettling change inside Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters. The 40-year-old now suspects {that a} portion of the workforce’s employees might now not be aligned with him, suggesting that a number of the early enthusiasm surrounding his transfer from Mercedes has evaporated. The place there was as soon as celebration, Hamilton now senses an environment of quiet doubt—if not outright criticism.
This shift has added to the emotional weight of his tough season. After the race in Barcelona, Hamilton’s onboard footage revealed a visibly disheartened driver, struggling to include his disappointment. The SF-25’s unstable rear continues to be a significant factor in his lack of kind, stopping him from persistently extracting efficiency—one thing Leclerc appears way more snug doing.
Regardless of sitting sixth within the drivers’ standings with 71 factors—23 behind Charles Leclerc— Lewis Hamilton isn’t giving up simply but. The British star is claimed to be clinging to hope that Ferrari’s upcoming upgrades, significantly a much-anticipated rear suspension replace due for the Austrian Grand Prix, would possibly rework the efficiency of the SF-25. The workforce can be creating a brand new ground, aiming to stabilize the automotive’s unpredictability and unlock its potential.
Hamilton has solely outperformed Leclerc as soon as, and technique performed a key position
Lewis Hamilton’s season received off to a promising begin with a robust reception from followers in Maranello. Over 1,000 spectators visited Fiorano to look at his maiden run in a Ferrari, and an estimated 5,000 lined the circuit for his February take a look at laps within the SF-25. The vitality round his arrival was plain, and hopes have been excessive that his huge expertise might convey Ferrari again into title rivalry.
Nevertheless, adaptation has been sluggish. Charles Leclerc has clearly had the higher hand in latest rounds, securing three podiums within the final 5 races and sustaining a stronger common ending place of P4.2 in comparison with Lewis Hamilton’s P6. The one time Hamilton has completed forward of his teammate this season was on the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, and even that outcome got here with a caveat: Ferrari opted to not pit Charles Leclerc throughout a late security automotive interval, a strategic misstep that price the Monegasque observe place.
Lewis Hamilton’s perception in Ferrari’s long-term imaginative and prescient stays—for now. However with the interior dynamics reportedly shifting and technical struggles persisting, strain is mounting on each the workforce and its marquee signing to show issues round earlier than hopes for 2025 are fully dashed.
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