Lewis Hamilton Slams Spanish GP as His Worst Race Amid Ferrari Struggles and Setup Issues
Lewis Hamilton labeled the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix as the most dismal race of his Formula 1 career, offering a scathing assessment of a weekend that went from promising to disastrous. The seven-time world champion began the event with optimism after managing to outqualify Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc—something he had only achieved once before this season, discounting Sprint races. However, the Monegasque had strategically saved a fresh set of tyres, which would prove advantageous on Sunday.
From the early stages of the race, tensions began to rise. Charles Leclerc voiced concerns about Hamilton’s pace over team radio, prompting Ferrari to instruct Lewis Hamilton to move aside. While Leclerc surged ahead, Hamilton found himself embroiled in a battle not with his teammate but with his former Mercedes colleague George Russell. Although the British driver initially gained the upper hand at Turn 1, he ultimately dropped behind as the race unfolded.
As the race wore on, former world champion Nico Rosberg observed that Hamilton appeared to be grappling with issues more severe than those affecting any other driver that weekend. Unfortunately, this observation offered little consolation for Hamilton, who once again found himself struggling to extract pace from his Ferrari SF-25.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur didn’t offer much encouragement after the race either. He admitted that both drivers had experienced problems during the final stint but was quick to deny that they had faced identical issues. He clarified to the Italian media that the difficulties the seven-time F1 world champion encountered were not related to oil, countering any speculation that both cars had suffered from a shared mechanical flaw.
Fred Vasseur stated that while Charles Leclerc also had problems, they were unrelated to Hamilton’s struggles. In a subsequent interview, he elaborated that Hamilton had shown strong performance earlier in the race, but began suffering from balance issues in the final stint. However, he refused to disclose the exact nature of the problem, only confirming that something had gone wrong with Hamilton’s car.
This lack of clarity is likely to concern Hamilton. The fact that his issues were not the same as Charles Leclerc’s, and instead appeared to stem from the car’s setup or balance, might indicate that the SF-25 is once again proving incompatible with his driving style. Unlike Charles Leclerc, who continues to extract strong results, Hamilton has found himself repeatedly falling short.
The performance gap has now become a troubling trend. Just weeks prior in Monaco, Hamilton finished nearly a full minute behind his Ferrari teammate—a concerning statistic that suggests deeper compatibility or setup issues.
Lewis Hamilton’s frustrations reached a boiling point in Spain when Nico Hulkenberg, driving the underpowered Sauber, easily passed him following a late safety car restart. Despite Nico Hulkenberg being on fresher soft tyres, the sight of being overtaken by a car widely regarded as the slowest on the grid was a bitter pill to swallow.
Post-race, the Briton didn’t hold back when asked to reflect on his underwhelming performance. He admitted he had no explanation, saying he had “no idea” what had gone wrong and emphasizing that it had been a “really bad day.” He acknowledged that Ferrari had executed a solid strategy and that the team had performed well, but emphasized that his own race was a disaster.
Hamilton appeared emotionally drained as he dismissed the need to even try explaining what had happened, and ominously suggested that the team probably wouldn’t find a solution—implying that the issue might simply lie with him.
Nico Rosberg speculated that Ferrari may have placed Lewis Hamilton in a “horrible” situation during the race, though the Ferrari team boss will likely be more concerned about the ever-widening gap between his two drivers. Hamilton had entered the Spanish Grand Prix with hopes of finally standing on the podium as a Ferrari driver. Instead, he was forced to watch Charles Leclerc bring home yet another trophy, while he was left grappling with more unanswered questions.
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