Lewis Hamilton’s Saudi Arabian Struggles Highlight Ferrari Adaptation Woes as Leclerc Shines with First 2025 Podium
Lewis Hamilton endured another underwhelming weekend at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as teammate Charles Leclerc claimed Ferrari’s first Grand Prix podium of the season. While Leclerc delivered a commanding performance to finish third, Hamilton could only manage seventh place — the same position he started — crossing the line an astonishing 30.969 seconds behind the Monegasque.
The contrast between the two Ferrari drivers was evident throughout the race weekend in Jeddah. Leclerc’s strong P4 qualifying effort enabled him to implement an alternate strategy to great effect, overtaking Mercedes’ George Russell in the process. Ferrari opted to pit Charles Leclerc for hard tyres on Lap 38 of 50, extending his medium-tyre stint, while George Russell had already stopped on Lap 20. The Briton made his tyre switch slightly earlier, on Lap 23, but was already trailing the Monegasque driver by nearly 14 seconds at that point.
Hamilton’s Pace Gap to Leclerc Described as “Inexplicable”
Hamilton’s lack of pace compared to Charles Leclerc was a recurring theme across all sessions in Saudi Arabia. In qualifying, the seven-time world champion trailed his teammate by over half a second. Sky Sports pundit Bernie Collins observed that Hamilton was unusually cautious during his Q3 lap, leaving significant space to the walls — a key factor in limiting lap time on Jeddah’s tight street circuit.
The Briton’s struggles were apparent as early as FP3, when Ferrari engineers noticed a concerning drop-off in his sector times. This downward trend persisted in the race, where he gradually fell further behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, unable to mount any serious challenge. Former F1 team boss Gian Carlo Minardi even described Hamilton’s performance as “inexplicable,” noting that it fell short of the high standards expected of a seven-time world champion. In contrast, Leclerc’s consistent pace helped mask some of the SF-25’s ongoing weaknesses.
Minardi remarked on his website that Leclerc deserved praise not only for securing the podium but also for minimizing the exposure of Ferrari’s technical limitations — issues that were far more apparent in Hamilton’s race. He added that the Briton’s performance “did not align with what one would expect from a driver of his calibre.”
Hamilton Still Working to Adapt to Ferrari’s SF-25
Charles Leclerc’s result in Jeddah marked Ferrari’s first podium of the 2025 Formula 1 season and a clear signal that the SF-25 has potential, albeit not without its flaws. The 27-year-old had enough pace to fend off Lando Norris, finishing just over a second ahead of the McLaren at the chequered flag.
Hamilton, by contrast, is still trying to unlock that same performance window. Though he started the season on a high by winning the Shanghai Sprint from pole position, he has yet to replicate that form in a full-length Grand Prix. His best result so far is P5 in Bahrain, and his average race finish currently stands at 7.25 — or 7.0 if you include his P6 in China, later nullified by Ferrari’s double disqualification.
The transition from Mercedes to Ferrari has proven more complex than anticipated, and Hamilton has acknowledged the need for more time to get comfortable with the SF-25. According to Martin Brundle, Ferrari internally recognises that the adaptation process is ongoing.
Still, Lewis Hamilton is fully invested in improving his situation. Over the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, he stayed at the track late into the night on both Friday and Saturday, poring over data with engineers in an effort to understand and resolve the performance gap to his Maranello teammate. His dedication is clear — but so far, the results remain elusive.
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