Lewis Hamilton’s followers had hoped he would arrive on the Miami Grand Prix with a refreshed sense of optimism. Nevertheless, following his disappointing efficiency on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion’s temper appeared removed from upbeat.
After qualifying half a second slower than his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, and ending over 30 seconds behind within the race, Hamilton overtly expressed considerations that the remainder of the 2025 season may show “painful.” Regardless of this, the 40-year-old assured a London viewers at a sponsor occasion that he wouldn’t “surrender” and promised to proceed bettering. But, when talking forward of the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton gave the impression to be in an identical mind-set, with no clear enchancment on the horizon.
Regardless of visiting Ferrari’s Maranello manufacturing unit for information evaluation and simulator classes in an effort to show issues round, Hamilton nonetheless appeared unable to seek out the answer to his ongoing struggles with the automotive.
Throughout Thursday’s FIA press convention in Miami, Hamilton appeared alongside former teammate George Russell and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg. When requested by host Tom Clarkson what was stopping him from extracting the total potential of his Ferrari, Hamilton’s response was succinct however obscure: “Many issues. A number of various things. There’s not one specific.”
Sky Sports activities’ David Croft then inquired whether or not a brand new driver in a workforce might anticipate to be faster than their teammate initially. Hamilton’s response was equally transient and lacked depth: “I imply, there are components of that which might be true, however it’s completely different for everybody.”
On the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast, journalist Jennie Gow mentioned Hamilton’s conduct on the press convention, highlighting the problem her producer confronted in making a significant section from the interplay. “He spoke within the press convention at present, however I feel the phrase ‘converse’ goes excessive,” Gow remarked. “Single-word solutions made it troublesome for our producer to cobble one thing collectively that made any sense. He was simply not into it.”
In the meantime, F1 pundit Ted Kravitz revealed that Ferrari’s newest recommendation to Hamilton was not to surrender, with the workforce nonetheless hopeful that there’s potential for enchancment. Nevertheless, the 40-year-old’s visibly downcast demeanor and lack of perception in a right away turnaround raises questions on his confidence in Ferrari’s potential to show issues round.
Ralf Schumacher, one other F1 pundit, urged that Hamilton may want to have a look at the instance set by younger Haas driver Oliver Bearman. Ralf Schumacher identified that the Ferrari junior’s recent perspective and adaptableness have allowed him to shortly regulate to his new workforce, a flexibility Hamilton could must undertake. Nevertheless, such a change in strategy is less complicated mentioned than accomplished, particularly for a driver who has had such a profitable profession together with his personal driving type.
Regardless of Ferrari’s optimism and the truth that 19 races nonetheless stay within the 2025 season, the Briton’s present temper seems to mirror a way of doubt. Though it solely takes one robust consequence to shift the narrative, Lewis Hamilton himself appears unconvinced that such a result’s on the horizon.