That Lewis Hamilton’s competitiveness wouldn’t instantly attain distinctive ranges as soon as he joined Ferrari was one thing your complete 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 in addition his whole way of life—shifting from England to Italy is just not easy, each when it comes to 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 because the 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 at first of a season proving extra sophisticated 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 monitor. 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 monitor. The Monegasque is actually top-of-the-line qualifiers on the grid—that’s nothing new—however a spot 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 totally tailored to this technology of ground-effect automobiles, one thing already noticeable throughout his three years alongside George Russell at Mercedes. Since arriving at Ferrari, the development has worryingly continued—aside from a flash of brilliance in China.
Setting apart the truth that in the present day will mark his fortieth consecutive Grand Prix with out a pole (his longest drought ever), the comparability along with his final two teammates is hanging, 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 Formulation 1 world champion instantly inside a couple of thousandths of Charles Leclerc, and even forward. But it surely’s simple that the a number of World Champion is struggling—in all probability 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 light, as famous by Ivan Capelli on Sky Sport: “The engineers have the instruments to judge him, however from the skin we see a Lewis Hamilton who by no means appears aggressive… he appears to be affected by the automobile, his strains are all the time stuffed with corrections. Lewis is a driver who has taken pole in Jeddah and is aware of effectively the place to seek out the velocity. But in the present day, he appears to lack feeling and may’t put collectively a clear lap.”
Greater than ever, it’s essential to shortly determine the foundation of the issue, contemplating we’re on the verge of the fifth race and the primary third of the 2025 Formulation 1 season is sort of over. Quickly, it would not be acceptable to jot down every little thing off as a “easy interval of adaptation” to Ferrari.
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