Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari are making progress in their first year together despite the issues that remain in the relationship.
Weekend after weekend, there are radio communications that suggest a lack of cohesion between Hamilton and race engineer Ricardo Adami, though the same can be said for teammate Charles Leclerc and Bryan Bozzi.
Those disagreements have led to scrutiny from outside the Scuderia given the struggle for positive results in the first half of the 2025 F1 season, with Hamilton forced to face questioning over his decision to leave Mercedes and whether he still possesses the talent that led him to seven world championships.
But in recent races, there have been signs of an upturn in form for both team and driver and it seemed Hamilton would be in with a chance of at least a podium at the British Grand Prix, with strong pace in practice on the Friday.
Come qualifying, the Briton would manage fifth on the grid, albeit only two-tenths off pole – a much reduced margin compared to previous rounds – and outqualifying Leclerc. In the race, he made one position in treacherous wet-dry-wet-dry conditions, missing an opportunity to score a podium when finishing behind Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.
So while progress is being made, neither Hamilton nor Ferrari can string everything together across a weekend. So what went wrong at Silverstone?
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Hamilton bemoans Ferrari strategy
Hamilton started well on the intermediate tyres and went straight on the attack against eventual winner Lando Norris on Lap 1, though was unable to get past the McLaren. He did consolidate his fourth position on the road, however, with George Russell having pitted for slicks at the end of the formation lap.
But after the first round of pitstops as rain began falling heavily, Hamilton found himself in eighth, behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon‘s Haas and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly as well as the top three of Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen and Norris.
The time lost behind Gasly in particular left him fighting an uphill battle for a podium finish, even with Verstappen spinning out of contention, with the Ferrari driver forced to chase Hulkenberg down in the closing stages. It turned out that the Sauber’s medium tyre choice for the final 10 laps was optimum and Hamilton struggled to keep life in his softs, coming up short in the quest for yet another home podium.
“We lost time and a lot of places through strategy,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “I’m not really sure how I was P4 and came out P8. That made life very difficult. I got stuck behind three cars for a long time.
“Then I stopped early in the hope of a big undercut and jeez, it was so tricky. This car does not like these conditions at all. A big snap and I went wide in Turn Three and it lost me a ton of time. There was lots of mistakes. It was not a good day.”
It’s not the first time Hamilton has been frustrated with the strategy given to him by Ferrari, though we have heard most of that play out on team radio.
In Austria, just a week prior, Hamilton was unhappy to be called into pit even when pleading to stay out to create a tyre delta. This is the sort of communication that needs to be ironed out, especially on his side of the garage but for Leclerc as well.
Positives for Hamilton after Silverstone struggles
While the Ferrari has been showing improved performance in the dry, Hamilton was far from pleased with his machinery in the wet conditions on Sunday.
“The car was unbelievably tricky to drive. I think ultimately I learned a lot today, there’s lots to take from the day,” Hamilton explained. “It’s only my second time driving in the wet in this car. I can’t even express to you how hard it is. It’s not a car that likes those conditions.
“For me, [it’s important] to sit down with the people that are designing the car for next year because there’s elements of this car that cannot go into the following year.”
That’s a key factor in how Ferrari could return to winning ways next season, having Hamilton‘s experience to help mould the car for the new regulation set. But Ferrari has to let that conversation happen with both Hamilton and Leclerc to make sure steps forward are taken.
Ferrari’s issues now are largely the same as they were a decade ago. Sebastian Vettel came in and turned the ship around enough to challenge Hamilton for the title in numerous years, now the Scuderia needs to let the same dynamic take shape.
