Lewis Hamilton is at present dedicating his time between the Jeddah Grand Prix and the upcoming Miami race to analyse the difficult begin to his 2025 System 1 season with Ferrari. The seven-time world champion has encountered difficulties adjusting to his new group, notably with the distinctive traits of the SF-25 in comparison with his earlier Mercedes automotive. Ferrari has supplied a proof for why Lewis Hamilton is struggling greater than his teammate Charles Leclerc, whereas F1 analyst Alex Brundle means that Hamilton’s largest challenge lies in his braking and efficiency in high-speed corners.
Within the aftermath of Ferrari’s double disqualification in China, the group has been cautious in pushing their automotive’s efficiency, aiming to deal with issues over their setup. Each Hamilton and Leclerc have been disqualified for separate technical infractions associated to an underweight automotive and plank put on. This led Ferrari to restrict the automotive’s efficiency in subsequent races in an try to repair these points. Nonetheless, this doesn’t totally clarify a regarding pattern that Karun Chandhok has noticed in Hamilton’s efficiency over latest races, as he mentioned on the Sky Sports activities F1 podcast.
Karun Chandhok highlights a worrying sample in Hamilton’s outcomes, notably compared to Leclerc, because the season progresses. Martin Brundle has additionally famous that it has been “exhausting to observe” Hamilton, given the constant struggles he has confronted, now turning into extra evident in latest races. In keeping with Chandhok, Leclerc has step by step prolonged his lead over Hamilton, which has left the seven-time world champion showing “deflated” throughout latest occasions.
Karun Chandhok elaborates on the efficiency hole, noting that in Australia, Hamilton was solely 0.16 seconds behind Charles Leclerc, however by Japan, this hole had elevated to three-tenths. In Bahrain, the hole grew to 0.59 seconds, and in Saudi Arabia, it ballooned to over six-tenths. Chandhok expressed concern that, for a driver who was anticipated to be adapting to Ferrari extra successfully because the season went on, the efficiency hole ought to have been narrowing as an alternative of widening.
In Saudi Arabia, Lewis Hamilton’s efficiency was notably disappointing, ending 31 seconds behind Charles Leclerc throughout 50 laps, which equates to a deficit of six-tenths per lap. This outcome left Hamilton trying visibly dejected, because it was his largest hole to his teammate to this point. Chandhok factors out that whereas Hamilton’s race tempo in Bahrain wasn’t too far off Charles Leclerc, the Saudi race marked a transparent downturn in kind. He additionally notes that the issue now seems to be a common lack of efficiency throughout numerous sectors of the monitor, making it psychologically difficult for the Briton, as he struggles to pinpoint the place enhancements will be made.
One other issue contributing to Hamilton’s struggles could possibly be associated to the 2022 System 1 technical rules. Italian media studies counsel that Hamilton is especially fighting the engine braking system within the Ferrari, which is considerably totally different from the one he used at Mercedes. This off-throttle system performs a vital position in regenerating battery vitality and infrequently delivers “energy spikes” that Hamilton finds tough to handle. These surprising bursts of torque can result in understeer, inflicting Hamilton to lose extra time than Leclerc over the course of a lap.
Within the Jeddah Grand Prix, the seven-time F1 world champion was additionally unable to match his Maranello teammate’s tyre administration, which was a key consider Charles Leclerc securing Ferrari’s first podium end of 2025. This highlights that, for Hamilton to shut the hole to his teammate and doubtlessly enhance his podium finishes this season, he might want to alter his driving type to raised deal with the distinctive traits of the SF-25 single-seater.
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