Lewis Hamilton’s Struggles at Ferrari Proceed After Disappointing Spanish Grand Prix Efficiency
Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties with Ferrari present no indicators of easing, with every Formulation 1 weekend bringing contemporary considerations about his tempo and competitiveness. The seven-time world champion endured one other robust outing at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, additional highlighting the uphill battle he faces in his new atmosphere at Scuderia Ferrari.
Regardless of qualifying forward of teammate Charles Leclerc on Saturday, Lewis Hamilton might solely handle a seventh-place end on Sunday, trailing even the Sauber of Nico Hülkenberg. Charles Leclerc, in contrast, managed to carry his Ferrari dwelling in third place, securing one other podium for the Italian workforce regardless of a much less favorable beginning place. The distinction of their outcomes solely served to additional underscore Hamilton’s ongoing adaptation struggles with the SF-25 chassis.
From a championship perspective, the outcome had minimal impression for the previous Mercedes man. He stays sixth within the drivers’ standings, 23 factors behind Leclerc and an equal margin forward of Mercedes protégé Kimi Antonelli. With 15 races remaining within the 2025 Formulation 1 season, there may be nonetheless time for a turnaround, however many within the paddock consider Ferrari—and Lewis Hamilton—could quickly start to shift focus towards the foremost regulatory overhaul coming in 2026.
One notably demoralizing ingredient for Lewis Hamilton got here within the last stint of the Spanish Grand Prix. Leclerc gave the impression to be coping with a beforehand unencountered problem associated to the Ferrari’s stability and tyre put on, one thing Hamilton had flagged earlier within the season. The Monaco native was heard over workforce radio making feedback about his setup compromise, which echoed Hamilton’s personal long-standing complaints. The Briton had beforehand recommended he intentionally compromised qualifying efficiency on Saturdays to extract higher race tempo on Sundays—an method that seemingly yielded little reward in Spain.
Including to Lewis Hamilton’s frustration was Ferrari’s choice to order him to let Charles Leclerc by through the race, a strategic transfer that enabled the Monegasque to chase the rostrum. In response to paddock insiders, the Briton felt this positioned him in a “horrible” state of affairs, one which didn’t mirror the goals he had when he first joined Ferrari. The transition from Mercedes, the place he loved years of dominance, has confirmed far more difficult than anticipated.
Hypothesis about Lewis Hamilton’s long-term dedication to Ferrari intensified following his post-race feedback. When requested about his subsequent transfer, the Brit reportedly acknowledged that he merely needed to “go dwelling,” a comment that some interpreted as an indication of psychological and emotional exhaustion. At almost 40 years previous, Hamilton could also be questioning whether or not he has the power and time to rebuild Ferrari’s fortunes—or whether or not the mountain he’s making an attempt to climb is just too steep.
Motorsport veteran Juan Pablo Montoya just lately weighed in on the state of affairs, suggesting that Hamilton should demand important structural adjustments inside Ferrari if he needs to see fast enhancements. Nonetheless, such adjustments—notably swapping race engineers once more—might be destabilizing. The previous Formulation 1 driver hinted that specializing in the technical package deal itself is likely to be a extra sensible answer for the rest of the season.
Lewis Hamilton’s transfer from Mercedes to Ferrari was some of the high-profile transfers in latest F1 historical past, however the choice is more and more being scrutinized. His insecurity within the Ferrari automobile has develop into extra obvious with every passing race. He has overtly acknowledged that the Spanish Grand Prix was his worst efficiency of the 12 months to this point and admitted he couldn’t clarify the poor stability and chronic rear-end instability that plagued his race. In response to SPEEDWEEK, the seven-time Formulation 1 world champion described the stability because the worst he had skilled in 2025.
The state of affairs appears to be weighing closely on each Ferrari drivers. Whereas Lewis Hamilton’s struggles have been extra seen, Charles Leclerc too appeared unusually withdrawn after the race. Studies from Spanish media indicated that each drivers have been troublesome to interview, suggesting that morale inside the workforce is underneath critical stress.
With Ferrari’s winter gamble on a brand new automobile idea now showing to have backfired, the workforce should regroup and develop a transparent technique for restoration. Their greatest hope lies in collaboration—between drivers, engineers, and management—to salvage the rest of 2025 and be certain that the Scuderia enters the 2026 Formulation 1 season with a much more aggressive platform.
Whether or not Lewis Hamilton finally regrets leaving Mercedes for Ferrari stays to be seen. However as issues stand, the transition has not introduced the success he envisioned, and except main adjustments are made quickly, his dream of an eighth world title might stay simply out of attain.
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