Lewis Hamilton believes his struggles at Ferrari are “going to be painful” and will last the rest of 2025 after a “horrible” Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Hamilton started and finished a lonely seventh in Sunday’s race on another weekend where he was clearly outperformed by Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Since winning the Chinese GP Sprint last month, Hamilton has not beaten Leclerc in qualifying or the race over three rounds in Japan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
In Jeddah, he finished over 30 seconds behind Leclerc, who scored Ferrari’s first podium of the season.
“Nothing positive to take, except for Charles finishing on the podium, which is great for the team,” said Hamilton.
“It was horrible, not enjoyable at all. I was just sliding around. I didn’t have grip. First stint, massive understeer, car not turning and then massive deg. The second stint, slightly better balance but still just no pace. Pretty bad.”
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Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris battle for P6 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Hamilton said “I don’t have any answers” when asked about his downturn in form since China and cut a confused figure when speaking to the media.
“At the moment there’s no fix. So, this is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year. It’s going to be painful,” he added.
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Highlights of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Hamilton: Mine and Leclerc’s data does not look massively different
Hamilton and Leclerc have both stated they have similar driving styles and converged on set-ups ahead of the most recent F1 race in Saudi Arabia.
Leclerc is renowned as arguably the best qualifier on the grid but Hamilton has not been able to match him in race trim either, which was seen as a strength throughout his F1 career.
“He [Leclerc] has been driving this car for a long time, so he definitely knows it really well,” said Hamilton.
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Lewis Hamilton says he was grateful for reaching Q3 and taking seventh in qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
“There’s plenty in the data, for sure. Honestly, it doesn’t look massively different in the data. I just go slower through the corners.
“We do have slightly different set-ups. I have to look and see whether that set-up is the way the car likes to be. He and his side are definitely obviously doing a better job.
“In qualifying it’s me extracting performance. In the race, I tried everything, and the car just didn’t want to go quicker.”
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