The career of Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari has been anything but a smooth ride so far. An early victory during the Chinese Sprint race looked to be a positive pace-wise, but hasn’t come to fruition. The 7-time world champion has struggled to consistently deliver in the Ferrari, especially when compared to Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque scored his third Grand Prix podium during the Spanish Grand Prix.
Ferrari has lost some pace in regards to last season. Additionally, there seems to be a deeper issue going on for the Maranello-based team. The car lacks pace in qualifying and has to make that up during the race. However, overtaking on track has proven to be difficult during the 2025 season.
Ferrari’s setup window is a possible explanation for Hamilton’s poor performance
With F1 tracks featuring a wide variety of corners, choosing a downforce level is limited to which corner gains the most time. This choice is contrasted to the rest of the circuit, where they make sure not to lose much time elsewhere. For example, in Saudi Arabia, Ferrari went all in for the turn 1 chicane for their downforce levels.
With the current Ferrari car, choosing a setup has appeared to be a headscratcher as the car lacks downforce. This problem has been improved upon slightly throughout the season so far, but only Leclerc managed to bring Ferrari’s pace level with that of Verstappen and the McLaren pair. On top of that, Hamilton’s struggles are also aggravated by the highly competitive grid we have had the joy of watching this year.
Lewis Hamilton Left Speechless After Difficult Spanish Grand Prix
Ferrari has committed to keep upgrading the 2025 car for as long as they are close to the top teams. But with the halfway point of 2025 fast approaching, it will be interesting to see what Ferrari can muster to close the gap to McLaren in race pace.
Incoming Ferrari upgrades crucial for 2025 Constructors’ Championship
Ferrari is currently in second place for the Constructors’ Championship. They have profited from a bad run of form for the Mercedes team. But with only the McLaren drivers and Verstappen winning races so far, closing the gap to McLaren could be impossible with Ferrari’s current pace.
The battle for second place in the championship, however, might go down to the wire. Upgrades will be crucial for Ferrari if they want to maintain this position. Leclerc is desperately awaiting updates to get the opportunity to consistently challenge for the podium. He had to sacrifice his qualifying in Spain for a chance to get a better result in the race.
Charles Leclerc Admits Ferrari Pace Comes with a Price as Team Awaits Upgrades
With round 9 of 24 completed, it could very well be a race against the calendar for the Italian outfit to catch up to McLaren and Verstappen. But who knows, anything can happen in Formula 1. As we saw with McLaren last year, after the summer break.
