Lewis Hamilton started and finished the Saudi Arabian GP from P7, taking home a good amount of points for the Scuderia Ferrari team. Hamilton is unsatisfied with his race result, as his teammate Charles Leclerc pulled off a huge performance that put him on the podium.
Hamilton’s takeaways from Sunday’s race
Coming off an encouraging P5 finish in Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton struggled through the Saudi Arabian GP. Citing issues with the balance of the car, Hamilton told the print media that he had “zero” positives to take away from the race.
“Nothing positive to take from today, except for Charles finishing on a podium, which is great for the team.”
“It was horrible. It was horrible. Not enjoyable at all. I was just sliding around, didn’t have a… First stint, massive understeer, car not turning, and then massive dag, and then the second stint, slightly better balance, but still just no pace, so yeah. Yeah, it’s pretty bad.”
Despite finishing within the points in four of five races so far this season–with a DSQ in China–Hamilton has not found his groove with this SF-25 car.
When asked if the problem was car-specific, Hamilton denied this, saying that he tried everything.
“No, it’s not. In qualifying, it’s me extracting the performance. In the race today, I tried everything and the car just didn’t want to work with us.”
What this outing means for Hamilton’s performance at Ferrari going forward
Hamilton is having trouble nailing down a particular aspect of the car that he is struggling with. This, unfortunately, does not bode well for the British driver after five races.
“I don’t have an answer for you, yeah. It’s nothing, you know, struggling, you know, balance, struggling to feel the car beneath me, but yeah, there’s no particular thing. It’s just, there’s nothing to say, hey, this is the issue.”
“At the moment there’s no fix. This is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year. It’s just going to be painful.”
Hamilton’s performance in the Ferrari will always be compared to his teammate, as is the nature of the sport. Charles Leclerc has been with the Scuderia for six seasons, developing a deep understanding of the car through the extensive experience he has gained. Coming from Mercedes after twelve seasons with the team, the adjustment period has been tough on the British driver.
When asked about what Charles’ data looks like compared to his, Hamilton states that there is not a dramatic difference. The only difference is that he has been less quick through lower speed sections.
“Well, I mean, he’s been driving this car for a long time, so he definitely knows it really well, but there’s plenty in the data, for sure. I mean, honestly, it doesn’t look massively different in the data, just that you’re slower through the corners.”
After a weekend off, F1 travels to the USA for the Miami GP. Hamilton does not foresee Miami going any better judging from his performance this weekend at the Saudi Arabian GP.
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t think it’s going to make a difference. I think I’ll struggle also in Miami. I don’t know how much longer I’ll struggle for, but it’s definitely painful.”
