Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 Formula 1 campaign with Ferrari has taken a discouraging turn, as the seven-time world champion admitted to having “zero positives” to take from a difficult Saudi Arabian Grand Prix—raising concerns that the rest of his season may follow a similar trajectory.
Hamilton was noticeably off the pace compared to teammate Charles Leclerc throughout the Jeddah weekend. While Leclerc managed a podium finish, Hamilton came home in seventh, trailing by 31 seconds—a gap that stood as the largest between any teammates who finished on the same lap.
The stark contrast wasn’t due to unfamiliarity with the Jeddah circuit, where Hamilton claimed victory in its inaugural 2021 race, but seemed tied to his ongoing discomfort with Ferrari’s SF-25 under the current ground-effect regulations.
“There wasn’t one second where I felt comfortable in the car,” Hamilton told Sky F1. “Clearly, the car is capable of P3—Charles showed that. I just couldn’t get anything out of it.”
His comments to the press echoed the same frustration. “It was horrible,” he said. “Not enjoyable at all. I was just sliding around. Massive understeer in the first stint, then high tyre degradation. The second stint felt a bit more balanced, but still—no pace. Just a bad day.”
The weekend’s result marked a sharp contrast to the optimism following his sprint race win in Shanghai earlier in the season. Asked what might explain that past success, Hamilton admitted: “I don’t have an answer. Right now, it just feels like a one-off.”
Though Hamilton refrained from pointing fingers, he acknowledged that Leclerc’s comfort with the car and consistency may be key factors. “He’s been with the team longer and knows the car well. Looking at the data, it doesn’t seem like he’s doing anything wildly different—but he’s simply faster through the corners.”
Set-up differences may also be playing a role. “We run slightly different configurations,” Hamilton noted. “Maybe his set-up is just better suited to the car.”
Long Road Ahead?
What may concern Hamilton and Ferrari fans most is the British driver’s bleak outlook for the remainder of the season. “In qualifying, maybe I can extract more, but in the race today, I gave it everything. The car just didn’t want to go faster.”
He added that he doesn’t expect things to improve immediately. “I think I’ll struggle in Miami too. I don’t know how much longer this will go on, but right now, it’s painful.”
When asked if the entire season could be just as difficult, Hamilton was candid: “At the moment, there’s no fix. So… this might be how it goes for the rest of the year.”
His move to Ferrari was originally seen as a fresh opportunity, with hopes that the team’s current-era cars might suit his driving style more than Mercedes’ did. That optimism has faded in recent races. Hamilton called the ground-effect era “the worst” and said he was unsure whether his issues stemmed from a fundamental mismatch with this generation of cars.
Looking ahead to 2026, when new regulations are set to debut, Hamilton didn’t offer much in the way of predictions. “I don’t know anything about next year’s car, if I’m honest,” he admitted. “I haven’t thought about it. But hopefully, with less ground effect, things will shift a little.”