Lewis Hamilton is currently dedicating his time between the Jeddah Grand Prix and the upcoming Miami race to analyse the challenging start to his 2025 Formula 1 season with Ferrari. The seven-time world champion has encountered difficulties adjusting to his new team, particularly with the unique characteristics of the SF-25 compared to his previous Mercedes car. Ferrari has offered an explanation for why Lewis Hamilton is struggling more than his teammate Charles Leclerc, while F1 analyst Alex Brundle suggests that Hamilton’s biggest issue lies in his braking and performance in high-speed corners.
In the aftermath of Ferrari’s double disqualification in China, the team has been cautious in pushing their car’s performance, aiming to address concerns over their setup. Both Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified for separate technical infractions related to an underweight car and plank wear. This led Ferrari to limit the car’s performance in subsequent races in an attempt to fix these issues. However, this does not fully explain a concerning trend that Karun Chandhok has observed in Hamilton’s performance over recent races, as he discussed on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.
Karun Chandhok highlights a worrying pattern in Hamilton’s results, particularly in comparison to Leclerc, as the season progresses. Martin Brundle has also noted that it has been “hard to watch” Hamilton, given the consistent struggles he has faced, now becoming more evident in recent races. According to Chandhok, Leclerc has gradually extended his lead over Hamilton, which has left the seven-time world champion appearing “deflated” during recent events.
Karun Chandhok elaborates on the performance gap, noting that in Australia, Hamilton was only 0.16 seconds behind Charles Leclerc, but by Japan, this gap had increased to three-tenths. In Bahrain, the gap grew to 0.59 seconds, and in Saudi Arabia, it ballooned to over six-tenths. Chandhok expressed concern that, for a driver who was expected to be adapting to Ferrari more effectively as the season went on, the performance gap should have been narrowing instead of widening.
In Saudi Arabia, Lewis Hamilton’s performance was particularly disappointing, finishing 31 seconds behind Charles Leclerc across 50 laps, which equates to a deficit of six-tenths per lap. This result left Hamilton looking visibly dejected, as it was his largest gap to his teammate so far. Chandhok points out that while Hamilton’s race pace in Bahrain wasn’t too far off Charles Leclerc, the Saudi race marked a clear downturn in form. He also notes that the problem now appears to be a general lack of performance across various sectors of the track, making it psychologically challenging for the Briton, as he struggles to pinpoint where improvements can be made.
Another factor contributing to Hamilton’s struggles could be related to the 2022 Formula 1 technical regulations. Italian media reports suggest that Hamilton is particularly struggling with the engine braking system in the Ferrari, which is significantly different from the one he used at Mercedes. This off-throttle system plays a crucial role in regenerating battery energy and often delivers “power spikes” that Hamilton finds difficult to manage. These unexpected bursts of torque can lead to understeer, causing Hamilton to lose more time than Leclerc over the course of a lap.
In the Jeddah Grand Prix, the seven-time F1 world champion was also unable to match his Maranello teammate’s tyre management, which was a key factor in Charles Leclerc securing Ferrari’s first podium finish of 2025. This highlights that, for Hamilton to close the gap to his teammate and potentially improve his podium finishes this season, he will need to adjust his driving style to better handle the unique characteristics of the SF-25 single-seater.
