Lewis Hamilton Pissed off After Spanish Grand Prix as Ferrari Technique and Tyre Points Derail Promising Begin
Lewis Hamilton endured one other irritating weekend with Ferrari, ending sixth within the 2025 Barcelona Grand Prix regardless of ranging from his highest grid place of the season. The seven-time System 1 world champion, who certified fifth, had initially seemed poised for a stronger consequence, however a mixture of tyre degradation, intra-team technique, and late-race setbacks finally price him a top-five end.
Initially, Hamilton made a promising transfer into fourth place, showcasing sturdy early tempo. Nevertheless, his momentum started to fade as his comfortable tyres rapidly degraded, leaving him susceptible to stress from teammate Charles Leclerc. Ferrari made the decision to swap positions between their drivers, a choice reportedly influenced by Leclerc’s pre-race issues about tyre longevity and the affect of working in soiled air. The Monegasque had already compromised his qualifying setup in favour of race tempo and was vocal over crew radio about the necessity to keep away from getting caught behind Hamilton.
Whereas a late-race Security Automobile triggered by Andrea Kimi Antonelli gave Hamilton a short lived enhance, permitting him to achieve a few positions, it was short-lived. Nico Hülkenberg managed to overhaul the Ferrari driver shortly after the restart, demoting Hamilton again to sixth and sealing the ultimate place within the prime 5.
Publish-race, Hamilton’s non-public radio messages to his engineer Riccardo Adami appeared to align with Leclerc’s personal frustrations, which had been expressed throughout the post-race cool-down room chat. Charles Leclerc had remarked to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri that the automotive’s steadiness had deteriorated considerably all through the race, describing the modifications as “unbelievable” and obscure. Hamilton, for his half, had expressed ongoing dissatisfaction with the steadiness of his SF-25 all through the race, significantly throughout the center stints, mirroring Charles Leclerc’s expertise.
Earlier within the race, Hamilton made it clear to his crew that he was unable to shut in on George Russell resulting from a scarcity of grip from the comfortable compound tyres. His complaints intensified within the laps main as much as the Security Automobile, the place he reported a major lack of rear-end stability. Following the race, he repeated these observations to Riccardo Adami, reinforcing the sense of a broader situation affecting each Ferraris.
Regardless of working forward of the Monegasque throughout qualifying on the Circuit de Catalunya, Lewis Hamilton was finally outpaced by his teammate throughout the 66-lap contest. The consequence leaves him 23 factors behind Leclerc within the Drivers’ Championship standings, elevating questions on his potential to persistently extract efficiency from the SF-25.
Ferrari crew principal Frédéric Vasseur addressed Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties in a post-race interview with Sky Sports activities. He acknowledged that Lewis Hamilton had encountered an issue on the automotive throughout the remaining stint, previous to the deployment of the Security Automobile. Whereas he didn’t specify the character of the problem, the French supervisor dismissed any suggestion of controversy, emphasizing that Hamilton had spent a big portion of the race forward of George Russell and that the general consequence didn’t mirror the total image of the Briton’s efficiency.
The Frenchman said that if individuals needed to create a story of drama, they might, however insisted it wasn’t justified. He underlined that Hamilton had pushed round 70% of the race in entrance of his former Mercedes teammate and reiterated that the issue solely surfaced late within the race.
Former System 1 world champion Nico Rosberg additionally weighed in on the crew orders, suggesting that Ferrari had positioned Lewis Hamilton in a “horrible” scenario by requiring him to present technique to Leclerc within the early phases of the Grand Prix. Based on Rosberg, such selections can injury a driver’s confidence and complicate intra-team dynamics, particularly for a driver nonetheless settling into a brand new crew atmosphere.
Lewis Hamilton’s struggles in Spain mirror a broader sample of inconsistency that has plagued his debut season at Ferrari. With the Maranello crew nonetheless working to know the nuances of its 2025 automotive, and a serious regulation change on the horizon in 2026, the stress is mounting for each the Italian aspect and the Briton to ship extra cohesive performances within the races forward.
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