How Ferrari’s conflicting request before Austria complicated Lewis Hamilton’s race at Red Bull Ring

Lewis Hamilton Endures Longest Podium Drought of His 19-Year Formula 1 Career After Fourth Place Finish at 2025 Austrian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion and driver for Ferrari, is currently enduring the longest podium drought of his illustrious 19-year Formula 1 career. After finishing just off the rostrum in fourth place at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, Hamilton has now gone 13 consecutive Grands Prix without achieving a top-three finish. This unprecedented dry spell is a new low for the 40-year-old British driver, who had previously amassed an impressive 202 podiums during his first 354 race starts since debuting in Formula 1 in 2007.

Prior to the Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton’s failure to reach the podium in the first 10 rounds of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship had already marked the worst start to a season in his entire career. Never before had Hamilton, who switched to Ferrari at the end of the 2023 season after a long and successful tenure with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, gone so deep into a season without standing on the podium.

Ferrari’s ‘Paradoxical’ Strategy Request Complicates Lewis Hamilton’s Race at the Austrian Grand Prix

At the Red Bull Ring, Scuderia Ferrari introduced a significant upgrade package to the SF-25, focusing on a newly redesigned floor and rear diffuser aimed at increasing aerodynamic efficiency and tire longevity. This upgrade package, one of the most extensive seen in the 2025 season, included modifications to the floor edges, aerodynamic fences, and bodywork applied to both Charles Leclerc’s and Lewis Hamilton’s race cars.

Despite these upgrades, Ferrari’s drivers found themselves battling for third and fourth place in Styria, trailing race winner Lando Norris of McLaren F1 Team by 19.820 seconds and 29.020 seconds respectively. The podium was within reach, especially after Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli caused a crash that took out Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, a major contender in the race.

Without the incident involving Andrea Kimi Antonelli crashing into Max Verstappen at his home circuit, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton might have struggled to maintain their podium positions due to what has been described as a ‘paradoxical’ request from Ferrari. According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Ferrari instructed both drivers before and during the Austrian Grand Prix not to “overdo it” in their driving. They were explicitly told to carefully manage their brake temperatures and conserve their Pirelli tires to ensure they could complete a two-stop race strategy.

Ferrari’s technical team was concerned that pushing flat out might have caused the SF-25 to struggle with tire degradation and brake wear, jeopardizing their ability to complete a successful two-stop strategy, unlike the McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who pushed aggressively and fought for victory. Charles Leclerc ultimately finished 17.125 seconds behind Lando Norris, while Mercedes driver George Russell crossed the line in fifth place, 33.376 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton — highlighting how Ferrari’s cautious approach likely helped them maintain position ahead of some rivals, but may have cost them a stronger result.

Lewis Hamilton Disagrees with Ferrari’s Conservative Strategy During Austrian Grand Prix

After the race, Lewis Hamilton admitted via team radio that he still needed to “figure out” the cause of his lack of pace during the Austrian Grand Prix. Ferrari’s race engineer Riccardo Adami explained that Hamilton was juggling “many things to manage” including brake temperatures, tire degradation, and race pace, which limited his ability to push the car to its maximum potential.

Their radio communications caught the attention of 1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, who described the exchange as “odd.” Villeneuve noted that Hamilton openly disagreed with Ferrari’s cautious strategy, especially his wish to attempt a one-stop race — a plan that ultimately was not accepted by the team.

Lewis Hamilton eventually conceded and made a second pit stop on lap 50 of the 70-lap race, which caused him to fall behind teammate Charles Leclerc in their improbable battle for the final podium position. Hamilton’s preferred one-stop strategy was his only realistic chance to challenge Charles Leclerc and potentially secure his first podium of the 2025 season, but Ferrari’s insistence on managing tires and brakes ultimately ended those hopes.