Following a difficult Saudi Arabian Grand Prix which he described as `horrible`, Lewis Hamilton expressed his belief that the performance issues he`s facing with Ferrari will persist throughout the remainder of the 2025 F1 season and will be `painful`.
In the Saudi race on Sunday, Hamilton finished in seventh place, the same position he started in, having been significantly outpaced by his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, for the second weekend in a row.
Since securing a victory in the Chinese GP Sprint last month, Hamilton has consistently finished behind Leclerc in both qualifying sessions and races across the subsequent three events held in Japan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. In Jeddah, his deficit to Leclerc, who achieved Ferrari`s first podium finish of the season, was more than 30 seconds by the checkered flag.
Hamilton commented on his race, stating there was `Nothing positive to take, except for Charles finishing on the podium, which is great for the team.`
He elaborated on his experience, calling it `horrible` and `not enjoyable at all.` He described the car as `sliding around,` lacking grip. In the first part of the race, he experienced `massive understeer,` where the car wouldn`t turn properly, leading to significant tire degradation. The second part saw a `slightly better balance` but still `just no pace.` Overall, he summarized his performance as `Pretty bad.`
When questioned about the decline in his performance since the Chinese Grand Prix, a visibly confused Hamilton stated, `I don`t have any answers.` He previously noted being grateful for even reaching Q3 and taking seventh in qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, highlighting the challenges he faced.
He concluded pessimistically, adding, `At the moment there`s no fix. So, this is how it`s going to be for the rest of the year. It`s going to be painful.`
Hamilton Notes Similar Data, Different Pace Compared to Leclerc
Both Hamilton and Leclerc have previously mentioned having comparable driving styles and arriving at similar car setups before the recent F1 race in Saudi Arabia.
While Leclerc is widely regarded as one of the grid`s strongest qualifiers, Hamilton has also struggled to match his teammate`s pace during races, despite this usually being a key strength for Hamilton throughout his F1 career.
Hamilton acknowledged Leclerc`s experience, saying, `He [Leclerc] has been driving this car for a long time, so he definitely knows it really well.`
Commenting on the team`s performance data, Hamilton noted, `There`s plenty in the data, for sure. Honestly, it doesn`t look massively different in the data [between us]. I just go slower through the corners.`
He mentioned setup differences: `We do have slightly different set-ups. I have to look and see whether that set-up is the way the car likes to be.` He conceded that Leclerc and his crew were `definitely obviously doing a better job.`
Reflecting on his driving, he stated, `In qualifying it`s me extracting performance.` For the race, he added, `I tried everything, and the car just didn`t want to go quicker.`
Marcus Prine