That Lewis Hamilton’s competitiveness wouldn’t instantly attain distinctive ranges as soon as he joined Ferrari was one thing the whole paddock had already largely taken under consideration. In spite of everything, it couldn’t have been in any other case for a driver who, after 12 years, not solely modified groups but additionally his whole life-style—transferring from England to Italy will not be easy, each by way of work strategies and, above all, each day routine.
This weekend seems to have notably unsettled the Briton, who even throughout qualifying appeared to nonetheless be trying to find concord together with his SF-25—one thing he hasn’t discovered because the very first laps on Friday. After narrowly avoiding elimination in Q2 by simply 7 thousandths forward of Alexander Albon, Lewis Hamilton was dealt a harsh blow in Q3: he was six tenths slower than Charles Leclerc—a heavy verdict at first of a season proving extra difficult than anticipated.
The SF-25 isn’t serving to
For a driver, confidence within the automotive is crucial to push it to the restrict, particularly on a circuit like Jeddah, the place speeds are unusually excessive for a road monitor. The SF-25 is a automotive born with particular shortcomings, notably in gradual sections: a transparent instance is the flip 1-2 sequence, the place the Maranello automotive loses two tenths in comparison with the opposite prime groups, rating because the second-worst performer in that space.
Ferrari’s issues are confirmed by the difficulties even Charles Leclerc has to deal with, although he manages to compensate within the following sectors of the monitor. The Monegasque is definitely among the finest qualifiers on the grid—that’s nothing new—however a niche of over half a second can’t be defined solely by his expertise and the automotive’s deficiencies.
Has the British driver misplaced his edge on a single lap? The comparability with Charles Leclerc (and George Russell)
The seven-time world champion has by no means totally tailored to this era of ground-effect automobiles, one thing already noticeable throughout his three years alongside George Russell at Mercedes. Since arriving at Ferrari, the development has worryingly continued—apart from a flash of brilliance in China.
Setting apart the truth that right this moment will mark his fortieth consecutive Grand Prix with no pole (his longest drought ever), the comparability together with his final two teammates is putting, given the caliber of a driver like Lewis Hamilton. In 2024, Russell has outqualified him 19 instances in 24 classes, with a median hole of two tenths. Based mostly on the information from the graphic under, the hole will increase to 3 tenths when in comparison with Leclerc.
The sunshine has gone out
Let’s be clear: nobody anticipated—or demanded—to see the seven-time Method 1 world champion instantly inside a number of thousandths of Charles Leclerc, and even forward. But it surely’s plain that the a number of World Champion is struggling—most likely greater than Ferrari had anticipated.
Elevating some questions can also be Lewis Hamilton’s demeanor, which has modified drastically in comparison with pre-season testing. That preliminary spark already appears to have pale, as famous by Ivan Capelli on Sky Sport: “The engineers have the instruments to guage him, however from the surface we see a Lewis Hamilton who by no means seems aggressive… he appears to be affected by the automotive, his traces are all the time stuffed with corrections. Lewis is a driver who has taken pole in Jeddah and is aware of effectively the place to search out the pace. But right this moment, he appears to lack feeling and might’t put collectively a clear lap.”
Greater than ever, it’s essential to shortly determine the foundation of the issue, contemplating we’re on the verge of the fifth race and the primary third of the 2025 Method 1 season is almost over. Quickly, it should now not be acceptable to jot down all the pieces off as a “easy interval of adaptation” to Ferrari.
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