Ferrari’s Inner Evaluation of Lewis Hamilton Revealed After Difficult Begin to 2025 F1 Season
When Ferrari confirmed the signing of Lewis Hamilton, many throughout the staff believed they had been securing one of the dependable and high-impact additions in fashionable System 1. With a legacy constructed on working with legends like Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda, Ferrari noticed Hamilton—already a seven-time world champion—as a pure match to spearhead their long-overdue return to title-winning kind.
Regardless of being probably the most profitable staff in F1 historical past, Ferrari have now gone 18 seasons with no championship. Through the years, they’ve introduced in large names like Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel within the hope of breaking that streak, solely to fall brief every time. The British driver was meant to be the motive force who may lastly succeed the place others had failed.
Expectations had been sky-high heading into the 2025 season, notably after Ferrari closed out the earlier yr with robust momentum. Followers stuffed the grandstands to look at Hamilton’s debut testing periods, satisfied that the Briton may ship an eighth world title. However because the marketing campaign has unfolded, the fact has been removed from what Maranello hoped for.
Aside from a standout Dash Race win in Shanghai, Hamilton’s first 5 races in crimson have been underwhelming. Whereas Charles Leclerc seems more and more in tune with the SF-25, Hamilton is visibly struggling to unlock its potential.
Lewis Hamilton’s Early Ferrari Struggles Drawing Concern from Contained in the Crew
System 1 journalists Mark Hughes and Scott Mitchell-Malm mentioned Hamilton’s underperformance on The Race F1 Podcast, describing it as one of the troublesome chapters of his profession. Hughes reportedly commented that Hamilton’s present kind marks a transparent low level—worse than something he skilled throughout Mercedes’ latest downturn. He added that the strain from inside Ferrari is intensifying, particularly given how strongly chairman John Elkann advocated for the British driver’s arrival.
Hughes additionally urged that Hamilton’s struggles aren’t simply affecting the Scuderia internally—they’re undermining one in all F1’s largest promotional storylines: the game’s most embellished driver becoming a member of its most historic staff. That narrative now dangers collapse if the Briton can’t flip issues round.
Mitchell-Malm echoed the sentiment, claiming that Lewis Hamilton’s performances have fallen properly wanting each inner and exterior expectations. He identified that whereas there have been moments all through race weekends that hinted at enchancment, these flashes have amounted to false hope. The dearth of consistency and the lack to construct on these transient indicators of progress have solely deepened the considerations throughout the staff.
Ferrari Initially Hoped Lewis Hamilton Would Assert Himself as Crew Chief Over Charles Leclerc
The British driver’s adjustment interval was all the time anticipated to be difficult. After over a decade racing with Mercedes, the transfer to a special staff—with a definite engineering philosophy—was inevitably going to demand a interval of adaptation. Nonetheless, few anticipated that the transition can be fairly this steep.
Regardless of a number of drivers switching groups forward of the 2025 season, Lewis Hamilton was probably the most deeply entrenched in his earlier setting. The challenges have prolonged past simply understanding the SF-25’s dynamics; points equivalent to Ferrari’s distinctive braking traits and the swap away from Mercedes‘ energy unit have additionally caught him off guard.
Internally, Ferrari’s management had hoped Hamilton would rapidly set up himself because the staff’s de facto lead driver. But with Charles Leclerc sustaining robust kind and commonly outperforming his new teammate, that aspiration has not materialized. Charles Leclerc’s consistency and flexibility have left him ready to contend for podiums—had Ferrari delivered a extra aggressive aerodynamic package deal, he may properly be within the title battle.
Lewis Hamilton, in the meantime, finds himself driving what’s at the moment the fourth-fastest automobile on the grid, nonetheless a step behind his teammate in each tempo and outcomes. With every passing race, the scrutiny grows, and the dream of a seamless transition to Ferrari supremacy seems more and more distant.
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