Lewis Hamilton has endured a difficult start to life at Ferrari which continued at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and his comments after the race gave a bleak outlook for the rest of the 2025 F1 season, raising concerns within the team.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion finished only seventh at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit after another lacklustre qualifying session, with Hamilton cutting a downcast figure in the media sessions following each session.
But it was the manner in which Hamilton trailed the top six that will be of greater concern than the position itself: he was 31 seconds behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who finished third, and struggled with balance issues throughout the 50-lap event.
“I don’t have an answer for you, no. There’s nothing,” Hamilton said after the race as his concerns with Ferrari were on show. “Balance, struggling to feel the car beneath me, but there’s no particular thing. It’s just, there’s nothing to say, ‘Hey, this is the issue.’
“At the moment, there’s no fix. This is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year. It’s just going to be painful. I was just sliding around. First stint, massive understeer, car not turning, and then massive deg and in the second stint, slightly better balance but still just no pace. Pretty bad.”
Hamilton woes continue
It’s not the first time that Hamilton has been less than enthusiastic post-session under the current technical regulations, so this can’t be just attributed to being at a new team.
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There is clearly some struggles with integrating with a new car and power unit – as could be suggested by his team radio messages in the opening five rounds. Less obvious issues such as knowing the driveability of an engine in different conditions, as evidenced at the Australian Grand prix, have to be worked around early on.
But then Hamilton had issues with the diva-like Mercedes cars of the past three seasons, with the Briton often needing to run experimental set-ups offset from then teammate George Russell as the Silver Arrows attempted to overcome problems. That seems to have paid off for the Brackley-based outfit, with both drivers seeming to have a more solid basis with which to perform this term.
Hamilton has also struggled with the characteristics of the larger Pirelli tyres under the current ruleset, with the mix of those and the current cars failing to match his driving style. Would we have expected Hamilton to adapt more positively? Perhaps.
It is worth pointing out that the SF-25 hasn’t yet lived up to the expectations placed on the car following the stellar end Ferrari had to the 2024 season, leading to concerns for Hamilton.
While the focus was on McLaren as it usurped Red Bull to become constructors’ champions, Ferrari was the in-form team in the closing stages but had given itself too tall a mountain to climb to take the title itself.
For that reason, the Scuderia was fancied to be McLaren‘s nearest rival, yet both Leclerc and Hamilton have found themselves behind Max Verstappen‘s Red Bull and the Mercedes drivers on most occasions this term.
But Leclerc seems to at least be turning the corner and has started to threaten the podium positions, something that Hamilton will hope comes soon on his side of the garage.
Is it season over already for Hamilton? Well yes, if you purely focus on the championships available. Hamilton is on 31 points, 16 fewer than Leclerc and 68 behind championship leader Oscar Piastri. For Ferrari the picture is even more concerning – McLaren’s tally of 188 points is 110 clear of the Maranello-based squad.
Yet looking at the bigger picture, only five races have been run, 19 are left to be raced and that is plenty of time for something to click and Hamilton to get back onto the podium and fight for race wins – the same can be said for Leclerc.
Hamilton proved he has what it takes when dominating the Chinese Grand Prix sprint event, taking pole and victory at the Shanghai International Circuit. He did the same in winning races for Mercedes last season.
Ferrari also proved last year it can turn the ship around, though the caveat this year is that eyes may move towards the 2026 regulation change rather than continuing development of the SF-25.
It’s by no means a lost cause. With Hamilton, you have to take his comments off the back of a poor race with a small pinch of salt. He has proven time and time again in his career that adversity only pushes him to improve, come back fighting and prove people wrong. Given what he said in Saudi Arabia, now he has to prove himself wrong and show that there is still something worth fighting for this year.
