Lewis Hamilton struggles with Ferrari setup tailored to Charles Leclerc’s driving style. Charles Leclerc’s preferred Ferrari SF-25 setup is reportedly hindering Lewis Hamilton’s performance.

Leclerc’s Preferred Set-Up Puts Hamilton at a Disadvantage as Ferrari Struggles for Balance

Ferrari’s 2025 Formula 1 campaign is shaping into a tale of diverging fortunes for its two high-profile drivers—Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Team principal Fred Vasseur began the season with the ambition to provide equal support to both, hoping the combined strengths of a long-standing Ferrari driver and a seven-time world champion would break the team’s prolonged title drought.

Leclerc, a homegrown talent nurtured by Ferrari for much of his career, brought intimate knowledge of the team’s culture and technical operations. Lewis Hamilton, arriving from Mercedes with monumental expectations and an even larger paycheck, was expected to lead the charge toward championship glory. Internally, some Ferrari executives hoped the British driver would naturally rise to become their de facto lead driver.

However, after six Grand Prix weekends, the balance has tilted in Leclerc’s favor—at least in terms of car development. Thanks to his extensive familiarity with Ferrari’s procedures and feedback systems, Charles Leclerc has become the more influential figure in guiding the technical direction of the SF-25. While that has helped the Monegasque driver extract more from a fundamentally flawed car, it has left Hamilton facing a steeper learning curve.

Ferrari’s SF-25: Charles Leclerc’s Set-Up Now Hindering Hamilton’s Adaptation
According to reports from Italy’s Autoracer, Ferrari’s recent design and set-up decisions are producing unintended side effects for Hamilton. To avoid a repeat of the disqualification Hamilton suffered in China due to excessive plank wear, Ferrari have raised the ride height of the SF-25, compromising its aerodynamic efficiency.

To mitigate the resulting performance loss, Ferrari engineers have adopted a front-unloaded, rear-light configuration—an aggressive setup that generates considerable oversteer. While this balance suits Leclerc’s driving style, it has proven problematic for Hamilton, who prefers more stability at the rear.

The report notes that the current configuration has led to a “completely unbalanced” car, penalizing Hamilton’s inputs and forcing both drivers to sacrifice time in slower corners—once a hallmark of Ferrari’s strength in the ground-effect era.

Fred Vasseur is particularly concerned by this regression. Slow-corner performance has long been one of Ferrari’s key assets, but under the current conditions, that advantage has all but vanished. The situation is drawing comparisons to Red Bull’s own balance issues in the latter half of 2024, though the Milton Keynes outfit seems to have found renewed harmony through floor upgrades introduced in Saudi Arabia.

The two Ferrari drivers are now relying on the Maranello team’s aerodynamic upcoming development packages to restore competitiveness and resolve the ongoing imbalance.

Arthur Leclerc Steps In to Aid Ferrari’s Struggling Star
While Leclerc is naturally attuned to the nuances of the SF-25, his teammate continues to recalibrate after more than a decade at Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton’s adaptation process has been hindered not only by Ferrari’s procedural differences but now also by the team’s evolving technical philosophy, increasingly tailored to Leclerc’s strengths.

However, a surprising source of support has emerged. Arthur Leclerc, Charles’ younger brother and a Ferrari junior driver, is contributing behind the scenes to help alleviate Hamilton’s integration struggles. Arthur has been taking part in Ferrari’s testing program with the previous-generation SF-23, collecting data that could inform adjustments to the current car.

Though Ferrari’s performance has improved during the race phases, qualifying remains a weakness. Both drivers have demonstrated flashes of strong pace over race distance, only to be undermined by lowly grid positions that prevent them from challenging for podiums.

Lewis Hamilton, despite flashes of promise such as his sprint race victory in Shanghai, remains on the back foot. The longer it takes Ferrari to correct the setup misalignment, the more it threatens to derail their ambitions—not only for 2025 but also for the development direction of the 2026 Formula 1 challenger.

With time running out and intra-team dynamics subtly shifting, Ferrari must act swiftly to unify both drivers under a more adaptable technical philosophy. If they fail to do so, the British driver’s marquee signing could yield far less than the championship returns they had envisioned.