Lewis Hamilton, driving for Ferrari, believes his difficulties with the team are just beginning and will continue throughout 2025. He described the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as `horrible`.
In the race on Sunday, Hamilton started and finished in seventh place, far behind his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. This race was another example of Leclerc outperforming Hamilton.
Since winning the Chinese GP Sprint last month, Hamilton has been consistently behind Leclerc in both qualifying and race results for the past three races in Japan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.
In Jeddah, Hamilton finished more than 30 seconds behind Leclerc, who achieved Ferrari`s first podium finish of the season.
`There`s nothing positive to take away, except Charles`s podium, which is great for the team,` Hamilton commented.
`It was truly horrible and not enjoyable at all. I was constantly sliding, lacking grip. In the first stint, there was significant understeer, the car wouldn`t turn, and then there was massive tire degradation. The second stint had a slightly better balance, but the pace was still lacking. Overall, it was pretty bad.`
When questioned about his drop in performance since the Chinese GP, Hamilton admitted, `I don`t have any answers` and appeared confused when speaking to the media.
`Currently, there is no solution. So, this is likely how it will be for the rest of the year. It`s going to be painful,` he added.
Hamilton: Data Comparison with Leclerc Shows Minimal Differences
Hamilton and Leclerc have both mentioned that they have similar driving styles and aligned their car setups for the Saudi Arabian GP.
Leclerc is widely considered one of the best at qualifying, but Hamilton has struggled to match him in race conditions as well, an area where Hamilton has traditionally been strong throughout his Formula 1 career.
`He [Leclerc] has been driving this car for a while, so he definitely understands it very well,` Hamilton noted.
`There`s definitely a lot of data available. But honestly, the data doesn`t show massive differences. It just comes down to me being slower in the corners.`
`We do have slightly different setups. I need to analyze if his setup is better suited to the car`s characteristics. Clearly, he and his team are doing a better job.`
`In qualifying, it`s about my performance. In the race, I tried everything, but the car simply didn`t want to go faster.`
