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Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari in a blockbuster switch after 12 years at Mercedes - Getty Images/Toshifumi Kitamura
Lewis Hamilton’s start to life at Ferrari has been a bruising one. One sprint race pole and victory in China aside, it has been a tale of pain in his new life at the Scuderia. Worryingly, the area where he struggled most last season – his worst in Formula One – has again been his weak point.
For almost every qualifying session last year, Hamilton was seemingly at a loss to explain the (sometimes enormous) gap to Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who ended the year 24-6 ahead. The races were usually better, winning twice, but the reason he was second best in the final reckoning was because of that baffling qualifying deficit. This is, remember, a man with 104 pole positions, 36 more than any other driver in F1 history.
In a new team, with a new car and a new team-mate in Charles Leclerc, the early glimpses of 2025 look disconcertingly similar. So far he trails Leclerc 3-2 in qualifying and is on average 0.154sec slower. Innuendo about car “deficits” between the Ferrari drivers appeared after he finished seventh at Suzuka – three places and 16 seconds behind Leclerc.
“Through the first three races, there’s been a bit of a deficit between both sides of the garage, on an element of the car – so on my side, something underperforming,” Hamilton said obliquely after the race. He was asked to expand on what exactly he meant but refused. It is rarely a good sign when drivers begin these insinuations but they usually come a little later in the season.
Worse came after qualifying in Bahrain when he finished ninth, six places and nearly 0.6sec down from his team-mate. He cut a familiarly dejected figure in his terse post-qualifying interviews.
“It was pretty straightforward – not much to say,” he said. “I’m just not doing a good enough job on my side so I’ve just got to keep improving. I’m working on it. Clearly the car is a lot better than I’m delivering with it,” he added.
Twenty-four hours later, though, and there were the first signs that Hamilton is starting to understand the task he faces. Not the magnitude of it – shifting to Ferrari after 11 years at Mercedes will take more adjustment than can be offered in one test and four grands prix. No, more about details and what exactly he needs to do to unlock the pace in the Ferrari that is evidently there, as Leclerc showed on Saturday.
Fifth for Hamilton in Bahrain was his best grand prix finish this year and he showed some decent pace in the race as Ferrari went for a different strategy to their rivals. By the halfway point both Hamilton and Leclerc were matching Piastri’s times, on medium tyres that were not a great deal fresher.
Hamilton still lacked Leclerc’s race pace in the lead Ferrari but this represents progress, even if his driver of the day award was faintly ludicrous. It was what he said after the race, though, that hinted of better days ahead.
“I think I’ve been driving in a certain style in a certain way with the same team for such a long time. I’ve moved to a new car and it requires such a different driving style and settings,” he said. “I’m adjusting to that and I think I am slowly getting it into my head.”
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Lewis Hamilton found a feeling with his Ferrari SF-25 during Bahrain Grand Prix that gives him hope that he can compete in 2025 - Getty Images/Mark Sutton
So far this season there has been an element of history repeating for Hamilton. The Ferrari cars appear to have been running divergent set-ups – as was the case at Mercedes in the previous three seasons – and that has rarely worked for Hamilton. Leclerc revealed after qualifying that he had been running an “extreme” configuration that makes the car trickier to drive, but works for his driving style.
Hamilton shone further light on that after the race. “What is clear is that Charles starts with a set-up and he stays with it pretty much all weekend and I was a long way away from him last weekend and this weekend,” he said. “If I start the weekend with a more convenient spot and apply the techniques that I learnt this weekend, hopefully it’ll be [improved].”
This hints that Hamilton is unlikely to go down the path of the “wacky” set-ups that blighted his final years at Mercedes. Back then he tried to find a magic bullet for all their problems in Friday practice, only to be bitten when he needed to push the car to its maximum. Starting at Ferrari with a blank slate and with so many new elements to deal with – the extent of engine braking Ferrari have and the brakes themselves were two he mentioned – means this is a sensible path to take. Another positive is that his and Leclerc’s driving styles are not too dissimilar.
Still, understanding is one thing, but execution is another. Even if Hamilton can find a sweet spot it does not mean he will start beating Leclerc instantly. The deficit might reduce significantly but could still be there over one lap. It will give him a better chance, though.
The limits of what either driver can deliver will be restricted by the limitations of the Ferrari SF-25. The team ended last year as equals to McLaren, with Leclerc scoring more points than any other driver after the summer break and the team narrowly missing out on the constructors’ championship. In 2025 it looks like their drivers and constructors’ title hopes are over before they have even started. They are yet to score a podium, are fourth in the standings after a double disqualification in China and have been forced to run their car at a compromised ride-height.
An upgraded floor was introduced for Bahrain and that was surely aimed at helping Ferrari run their car lower and stiffer – without being disqualified for excessive plank wear, as Hamilton was in China. The early signs were broadly positive but the first target should be to beat the teams around them. Red Bull look more lost than Ferrari which means Russell’s Mercedes is the likely first name on the list, and with it a maiden trip to the podium. There is plenty of room for improvement at Ferrari, but there is plenty of time to improve too.
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