Following the Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton disclosed that a specific component of his Ferrari Formula 1 car is not performing as effectively as it is on his teammate Charles Leclerc`s vehicle. This revelation comes after a challenging weekend for Hamilton at Suzuka.
Hamilton started the race from eighth on the grid and finished in seventh place. His race was largely uneventful after passing Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls early on Sunday.
In contrast, Leclerc outperformed Hamilton in qualifying by three-tenths of a second, starting and finishing the race in fourth position, a significant 13 seconds ahead of Hamilton.
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“I gave it my best effort today, but I was simply lacking pace compared to the cars ahead,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
“We`ve identified an issue on the car that has been causing underperformance for the past three races. I`m optimistic that once this is resolved, my results will improve. We estimate that this problem is costing me just over a tenth of a second per lap, and I hope it will be fixed by the next race.”
Ferrari is currently running their cars with a higher ride height than desired, a consequence of both Hamilton and Leclerc being disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton`s disqualification was due to excessive wear on the plank under his car, while Leclerc`s car was found to be underweight.
Modern Formula 1 car designs necessitate running the cars as low to the ground as possible to maximize downforce and enhance performance.
Leclerc Adjusts Driving Style for Performance Gain
Ferrari`s current position in the Constructors` Championship sees them trailing McLaren by 76 points after only three race weekends. Despite initial optimism following their 2024 performance, where they aimed to challenge McLaren, Leclerc expressed disappointment at the gap. He hinted that adjustments to his driving style are contributing to his stronger performance relative to Hamilton.
“There was no more performance to extract from the car,” Leclerc commented to Sky Sports F1.
“As a team, we executed well in terms of balance and strategy to achieve the best possible result. However, it`s still frustrating to finish P4 when you`ve done everything right and are still significantly slower than the leaders.”
“My first stint was reasonable, but we seemed to lose some pace afterwards. On the positive side, we maximized our potential for the weekend, but the negative is simply that our pace isn`t competitive enough.”
“I`ve adopted a specific driving style which I believe will help me consistently get the most out of the car. While this needs further validation, I`m eager to see if it translates positively in Bahrain. If it does, I`m confident I can consistently maximize the car`s potential throughout the year, although if that potential is only good enough for P4, it’s not ideal. I’m hopeful we have performance upgrades coming soon.”
The Formula 1 season continues with a triple-header in Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend, April 11-13.
Marcus Prine