That Lewis Hamilton’s competitiveness wouldn’t instantly attain distinctive ranges as soon as he joined Ferrari was one thing your entire paddock had already largely taken under consideration. In any case, it couldn’t have been in any other case for a driver who, after 12 years, not solely modified groups but additionally his whole life-style—shifting from England to Italy is just not easy, each by way of work strategies and, above all, each day routine.
This weekend seems to have notably unsettled the Briton, who even throughout qualifying appeared to nonetheless be trying to find concord along with his SF-25—one thing he hasn’t discovered for the reason that very first laps on Friday. After narrowly avoiding elimination in Q2 by simply 7 thousandths forward of Alexander Albon, Lewis Hamilton was dealt a harsh blow in Q3: he was six tenths slower than Charles Leclerc—a heavy verdict initially of a season proving extra difficult than anticipated.
The SF-25 isn’t serving to
For a driver, confidence within the automobile is crucial to push it to the restrict, particularly on a circuit like Jeddah, the place speeds are unusually excessive for a avenue observe. The SF-25 is a automobile born with particular shortcomings, notably in sluggish sections: a transparent instance is the flip 1-2 sequence, the place the Maranello automobile loses two tenths in comparison with the opposite prime groups, rating because the second-worst performer in that space.
Ferrari’s issues are confirmed by the difficulties even Charles Leclerc has to deal with, although he manages to compensate within the following sectors of the observe. The Monegasque is actually among the best qualifiers on the grid—that’s nothing new—however a niche of over half a second can’t be defined solely by his expertise and the automobile’s deficiencies.
Has the British driver misplaced his edge on a single lap? The comparability with Charles Leclerc (and George Russell)
The seven-time world champion has by no means absolutely tailored to this era of ground-effect automobiles, one thing already noticeable throughout his three years alongside George Russell at Mercedes. Since arriving at Ferrari, the pattern has worryingly continued—apart from a flash of brilliance in China.
Setting apart the truth that at this time will mark his fortieth consecutive Grand Prix and not using a pole (his longest drought ever), the comparability along with his final two teammates is placing, given the caliber of a driver like Lewis Hamilton. In 2024, Russell has outqualified him 19 occasions in 24 periods, with a mean hole of two tenths. Primarily based on the info from the graphic beneath, the hole will increase to 3 tenths when in comparison with Leclerc.
The sunshine has gone out
Let’s be clear: nobody anticipated—or demanded—to see the seven-time System 1 world champion instantly inside a couple of thousandths of Charles Leclerc, and even forward. But it surely’s plain that the a number of World Champion is struggling—most likely greater than Ferrari had anticipated.
Elevating some questions can be Lewis Hamilton’s demeanor, which has modified drastically in comparison with pre-season testing. That preliminary spark already appears to have pale, as famous by Ivan Capelli on Sky Sport: “The engineers have the instruments to guage him, however from the surface we see a Lewis Hamilton who by no means appears to be like aggressive… he appears to be affected by the automobile, his strains are at all times stuffed with corrections. Lewis is a driver who has taken pole in Jeddah and is aware of nicely the place to search out the velocity. But at this time, he appears to lack feeling and might’t put collectively a clear lap.”
Greater than ever, it’s essential to rapidly establish the foundation of the issue, contemplating we’re on the verge of the fifth race and the primary third of the 2025 System 1 season is sort of over. Quickly, it is going to now not be acceptable to jot down all the pieces off as a “easy interval of adaptation” to Ferrari.
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