Looking at the final classification of the 2025 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, there is a figure that raises eyebrows at Ferrari: the 51 seconds lost by Lewis Hamilton to race winner Lando Norris, which become 48 seconds when compared to his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc.
A significant gap, the second-worst of the season after the minute lost in the Miami Grand Prix. But while in that case the gap to Charles Leclerc was only a few seconds, about a minute behind the leader, highlighting how the root issue was an SF-25 single-seater struggling on circuits that require aero-mechanical compromises in order to balance slow and fast corners, on the streets of Monte Carlo, the story is different.
It is no secret that Charles Leclerc is one of the fastest drivers on street circuits, especially in his Monte Carlo home race, where results show he has always been able to take risks and extract something extra when in mattered the most, namely in terms of qualifying performance. Once again this year his effectiveness on the Principality’s narrow streets was most evident in qualifying, where Lewis Hamilton finished about three tenths behind.
On a track filled with slow corners, the British driver’s most significant deficit over a single lap actually came in the faster sections, such as the entry to Massenet, as well as Casino and Tabac corners, which are sections requiring courage and precision to brush close to the walls while minimizing understeer. It is precisely in these areas that Lewis Hamilton’s chronic lack of confidence in the front end became evident, as seen on other tracks too.
Nevertheless, the SF-25 car’s good performance in the slow sections still allowed him to set the fourth fastest time in qualifying, which unfortunately turned into a seventh place on the grid after a penalty for impeding Max Verstappen. And it is clear that the penalty complicated his entire race on Sunday. In the first 17 laps of the Monaco Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton stuck in traffic behind Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso due to the penalty, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion lost 15 seconds to Lando Norris, which is about a second per lap, while the gap to Charles Leclerc was just under 12 seconds.
Once Fernando Alonso also pitted and Lewis Hamilton had a clear track to run in clean air, his lap times immediately improved, matching those of the race leaders. In the subsequent laps, during which the Briton attempted to complete the overcut on Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso, the gap to the McLaren MCL39 of Lando Norris remained virtually unchanged. The problem was that by then, Lewis Hamilton was already out of contention for any real target. All the front-runners, from Lando Norris to Max Verstappen, had enough margin to pit and come out comfortably ahead of the Ferrari. Even Max Verstappen, for example, could manage his stop without pressure.
Lewis Hamilton showed good pace at times, but backmarkers were a burden. If we examine the lap times from lap 20 to 29, when Lando Norris approached the backmarker traffic, Lewis Hamilton’s gap to the Briton stayed mostly steady, rising to just under sixteen seconds. Choosing to pit earlier and run with fresh tyres for a few extra laps allowed the former Mercedes driver to reduce the gap to Charles Leclerc as well. But it was in this phase that the second major problem of his race emerged: traffic. While Lando Norris managed to clear the backmarker group, from Carlos Sainz to Oliver Bearman, in two or three laps, Lewis Hamilton took longer. This was also because Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto had rejoined the back of the pack.
Before encountering the backmarkers, the Ferrari driver was about 15 seconds behind Lando Norris. By the time he had cleared the entire group, the gap had risen to around 30 seconds. At that point, any hope of recovery had definitively vanished.
Mid-race target from Ferrari also played a role. At this stage, Lewis Hamilton began expressing concerns over the radio, asking his race engineer Riccardo Adami for more information about what was happening in the race. Analyzing the telemetry data regarding his pace in the next ten laps, from when he returned to clean air until Lando Norris’s second pit stop, the gap increased by about 5 seconds, with a pace delta of half a second per lap to Lando Norris and four tenths to Charles Leclerc.
However, there is a reason: Lewis Hamilton was simply following the 1.15.0 target time requested by Ferrari from lap 40 onward, which explains the significant delta. With nothing to lose, Ferrari opted to extend the middle stint, partially “playing into” Red Bull’s hands, as it allowed Max Verstappen to stay safely out of undercut range despite the traffic.
Ferrari did not attempt to apply pressure to force an undercut, not even after Lewis Hamilton’s second stop, and this is likely where the greater miscommunication between driver and pit wall occurred. The Briton himself complained over the radio about the lack of information. Instead of pushing to put pressure on Max Verstappen, the first laps of the third and final stint were very slow, with Lewis Hamilton losing another six seconds to the front, adding to the time already lost by extending the stint compared to those who had already stopped for a second time.
As Max Verstappen began to slow the group ahead, Lewis Hamilton once again found himself stuck in backmarker traffic, taking six laps to get through. The time lost early in the race due to the penalty, time lost in lapping slower cars, and far-from-perfect communication with the Ferrari pit wall all significantly contributed to the final 50-second gap at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix.
— see video above —
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