Lewis Hamilton Struggles Again as Ferrari’s 2025 Car Reveals a Familiar Flaw
Lewis Hamilton endured another difficult outing at the Japanese Grand Prix, failing to leave a mark in his underperforming Ferrari. Starting from a disappointing eighth on the grid, the seven-time world champion made minimal progress, gaining just one place by the end of the race.
Early on, Hamilton easily overtook Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar, as expected. But when it came to chasing down rookie Kimi Antonelli—his own successor at Mercedes—he couldn’t apply any real pressure. The 18-year-old Italian finished more than 10 seconds ahead of the veteran Briton, marking a symbolic moment in F1’s generational shift. Even more concerning, Hamilton trailed teammate Charles Leclerc by a staggering 13 seconds at the flag.
Since the initial boost of winning his first Sprint race as a Ferrari driver, Lewis Hamilton has consistently been overshadowed by Charles Leclerc. In Suzuka, the Monegasque outqualified him by four grid spots and held firm in the race, while his teammate struggled to match the pace throughout the Japanese weekend.
As a result, the Briton remains behind Williams’ Alex Albon in the drivers’ standings heading into the Bahrain Grand Prix. While his disqualification from the Shanghai round certainly affected his points tally, he is still only averaging five points per weekend—well below expectations for a Ferrari contender.
Ferrari’s SF-25 Suffers from Same Narrow Operating Window That Troubled Hamilton last year
The story of Ferrari’s 2025 F1 campaign so far has been one of inconsistency. While Lewis Hamilton and the SF-25 looked strong during the Sprint sessions in Shanghai, the team has more often been the fourth-fastest outfit on the grid. The question many are asking is: why is performance so volatile?
According to German publication Bild, the Ferrari isn’t inherently slow. However, its effectiveness is limited by an extremely narrow operating window—just like the Mercedes W15 that Hamilton drove in 2024. Factors like setup, track temperature, and surface conditions must align perfectly for the SF-25 to shine. Otherwise, the car drops out of the performance window and becomes difficult to handle.
This characteristic has proved especially challenging for Hamilton, who struggled with a similarly “peaky” Mercedes last season. As he told Autosport in 2024, the W15 required precise conditions to work optimally. That pattern is repeating itself at Ferrari.
To put things in perspective, Lewis Hamilton’s average qualifying position last season was 8.5. But on certain weekends—such as Spain, Silverstone, and Spa—he was able to qualify inside the top three, highlighting how sensitive the car was to external factors.
Unstable Rear-End a Key Issue Hamilton Is Struggling to Manage at Ferrari
Further complicating matters for Hamilton is the SF-25’s unpredictable rear, a characteristic that Leclerc has seemingly adapted to more successfully. Reports from the Italian website AutoRacer indicate that the rear-end instability has become a consistent challenge for the team, affecting both race pace and tyre degradation.
Sky Germany analyst Ralf Schumacher noted ahead of the season that Hamilton has historically struggled with cars that exhibit a loose rear. According to Schumacher, such instability erodes Hamilton’s confidence in the car—something crucial for extracting performance. That sentiment was echoed by 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve during the Japanese GP broadcast, where he commented on how visibly unstable Hamilton’s Ferrari appeared, frequently sliding through corners.
This rear-end instability not only affects balance but also increases tyre temperatures, leading to accelerated thermal degradation—a vicious cycle that hampers both qualifying and race performance.
To make matters worse, the Maranello team was forced to raise the ride height of the SF-25 in Suzuka due to excessive skid-block wear, a direct consequence of Hamilton’s disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix. Known for preferring ultra-low ride heights to maximize performance, Hamilton is likely frustrated by the enforced compromise, which further limits the car’s potential.
As Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton search for solutions, the parallels with his final season at Mercedes are becoming increasingly hard to ignore. Unless the team finds a way to widen the SF-25’s performance window and stabilize its rear-end behavior, Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of a competitive 2025 campaign may continue to slip away.
