Lewis Hamilton revealed Ferrari made the decision to ban he and Charles Leclerc from talking about a key issue they endured at the 2025 Spanish GP, as the team came crashing back to reality following their Monaco high.
The seven-time world champion and the Monegasque racer came close to pulling off a memorable effort in Monte Carlo on May 25 as Hamilton qualified fourth (seventh after a grid penalty) whilst Leclerc very narrowly missed out on the top spot to Lando Norris.
The performance had surprised the Scuderia, who had fears the slow corners would leave them a long way behind McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes and in the clutches of the rest of the field, as they missed out on pole by just over a tenth of a second.
However, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a weekend later, they received a brutal reality check by qualifying fifth and seventh and almost half-a-second off Oscar Piastri’s fastest lap in Q3.
Then in the race, they lacked the pace to compete and were drastically dropped by the lead trio until a late safety car and 10-second time penalty for Max Verstappen after he saw red against George Russell, allowed Leclerc to salvage a podium.
Their British recruit, on the other hand, had some kind of unspecified issue and eventually was overtaken by Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber on Lap 65, despite the lime-green car starting from 15th and trailing the Scuderia by 149 points in the constructors’ championship.
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And ahead of the 10th round of the campaign, in Canada, Hamilton reveals Ferrari made the decision to ban he and Leclerc from talking about the key issue hampering them at the Spanish GP.
“Unfortunately, the team yesterday said they didn’t really want us to talk too much about it,” Hamilton told media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “But we both had issues that were hindering us massively from halfway through the race already.
“I didn’t know whether or not we had that problem, but I said on the radio that it was the worst-feeling car I’d ever had – and it truly was with that issue. At the end of the race, I was like, ‘Jeez, I’ve never experienced something this bad for such a prolonged time through a race.’
“It wasn’t until after the TV interviews I got back to the engineers and we found out there was an issue. It was a bit of a relief to hear that because I didn’t feel so terrible afterwards.”
Hamilton ‘doesn’t need’ big result for Ferrari after 2025 Spanish GP
Hamilton has an illustrious CV in the sport, with 105 Grand Prix wins, 104 pole positions, 202 podiums, 4933.5 career points, 67 fastest laps and seven crown jewels at the helm of his career with his Formula 1 titles.
By far the most successful racer in the history of the sport, at least from a statistical perspective for those partial to Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna, it’s unusual to see a season like 2025 from the Brit.
He’s currently sixth in the drivers’ standings with just 71 points to his name, without any podiums either. He has struggled to match the speed of Leclerc, although there is key context such as his age (40), moving to a new country and learning a brand new car and engine.
Yet to see him so far off the pace is still a surprising image, despite his exceptional weekends in the Chinese and Miami Sprint Races, but he isn’t losing his trademark confidence and mettle yet.
“I don’t feel that I’m searching,” Hamilton added. “Of course, a good weekend is always a good thing, but I don’t feel like I’m in desperate need of one. I think it looks a lot worse outside than it probably is on the inside.
“Even just coming from engineering now – how they set the car up compared to any other year that I’ve been here is completely different. And having discussions with engineers to change things… There’s a certain way they like to work ands it’s, ‘Hold on a second – that doesn’t actually make sense’.
“Like, this is what I’ve done for the last 17, 18 years here, and it’s worked in a lot of them. So, getting those things to consistently work with the team and making sure you’re working in a constructive way to make changes.
“The car has a real sweet spot, and we’re trying to get it working at all those tracks, which everyone’s having a struggle with. Yeah. I’m hoping this weekend can be strong.”
