Lewis Hamilton could barely muster the words to describe his disappointment after yet another race to forget in a Ferrari. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix offered little joy to the seven-time Formula 1 champion who qualified down in seventh and stayed there for most of the race.
His team-mate Charles Leclerc, who had qualified three places ahead, was able to make the all-important progress to make it a day to remember. He got past George Russell and then held off Lando Norris late on to record Ferrari’s first podium finish of 2025.
But the top three seems like a distant dream for Hamilton right now as he continues to find it very difficult to get his car to perform. His adaptation from Mercedes has been a painful process so far and that was reflected in his post-race interview.
“There wasn’t one second [where I felt comfortable],” he told Sky Sports. “Clearly, the car is capable of being P3. Charles did a great job today, so I can’t blame the car.”
Asked if he has any idea why it’s not working for him, Hamilton just shook his head and replied: “No.” He wore a glum expression throughout the short conversation and is obviously at a loss right now in terms of how to get his machine to work.
Because he knows it is possible. The car came alive with the setup he used for the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race last month and he was rewarded with pole position and then his first and only win so far since joining Ferrari.
But changes he made for the following day’s Grand Prix saw it slip outside of its optimum operating window again and he was nowhere near the fight for victory, before both Ferrari cars were disqualified. And, ever since, it has been a frantic but fruitless search for Hamilton as he tries to unlock that performance again.
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His team principal Frederic Vasseur is clearly concerned about the situation, no matter how much he tries to hide it. He was keen to protect his driver as he fact post-race questions about why the most decorated driver in F1 history cannot show any meaningful performance in a red car.
“It was a bit up and down. It was not that he was always off the pace, but let me discuss it with him first,” the Ferrari boss said. “Perhaps it is his confidence with the car, and perhaps with himself also as everything is new. Let’s see next week – the last time we did a sprint it went pretty well.”
At least those of a Ferrari persuasion had something to smile about in the form of Leclerc’s positive performance. He said: “I was very happy with the race today and I think we maximised absolutely everything. I’m very proud of what we’ve done.
“I never expected to finish third – I honestly thought this race was about defending against the cars behind. Now we just need to improve the car in order to be fighting further up. We need to keep pushing and, hopefully, upgrades are coming soon in order to improve the car.”
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