Ferrari finally secured its first podium finish of 2025 at the Saudi Arabian GP last weekend. But those expecting seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton’s name up there would’ve felt disappointed. It was Charles Leclerc who finished P3 behind Oscar Piastri (P1) and Max Verstappen (P2) at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with Hamilton crossing the chequered flag in seventh.
This has been the story of the season so far—Leclerc clearly being the better Ferrari driver, whereas Hamilton continues to find his feet at his new home.
Ferrari hasn’t been flawless either. Performance issues have limited Hamilton’s ability to get up to speed with the SF-25 as quickly as some would have expected him to. But in all reality, his shortcomings to Leclerc are pushing him down to the second driver’s status at the team. Basically, time is running out for the 40-year-old.
The Italian team wants Hamilton to perform better, which is why finishing over 30 seconds behind Leclerc—as he did in Jeddah—will raise eyebrows at Maranello. Team Principal Frederic Vasseur was understandably asked to address this issue after the Saudi Arabian GP, which is when he highlighted the area of Hamilton’s struggles.
“Perhaps with the confidence. With the car. Perhaps a little bit with himself. Also, that everything is new and for sure, this kind of weekend when you don’t do long stints on Friday, and so, and we struggle a little bit with the balance,” the Frenchman said in his post-race comments to Karun Chandhok in the pitlane.
This isn’t the first time Hamilton’s confidence has come under the spotlight, though. Toward the end of his Mercedes stint last year, his self-belief had seemingly dipped, prompting many to question whether it would impact his performances at Ferrari.
On top of that, adaptability has been a huge issue for Hamilton. The #44 driver simply hasn’t familiarized himself with Ferrari’s mechanical package, and his troubles in Jeddah further emphasized that. “It was horrible, not enjoyable at all. I was just sliding around. It’s pretty bad,” Hamilton said after the Grand Prix.
| Lewis Hamilton was asked what he needs to adapt to the SF-25. He responded:
“A brain transplant.” pic.twitter.com/Bhhi4VoKh6
— formularacers (@formularacers_) April 20, 2025
“At the moment, there is no fix so this is how it’s going to be for the rest or the year. It’s going to be painful.”
For Hamilton, the result in Saudi Arabia must have been an even tougher pill to swallow given Carlos Sainz’s performance. The man he replaced at Ferrari has now outperformed him on track for the second week in a row. In Bahrain, Sainz qualified ahead of the Briton—and did so again this past weekend.
Regardless, Sainz was always worried about the ‘better cars’ eventually getting the upper hand in races.
When asked about out-qualifying Hamilton in Jeddah, the Madrid-born driver cautiously said, “The top cars don’t seem to degrade the rear tires [like we do], but let’s see tomorrow. I will try to be disciplined with my tire management.”
Sainz’s assessment proved to be correct as he finished in eighth, a further 25 seconds behind Hamilton’s Ferrari. While that was due to the lack of Williams’ raw performance, Hamilton will have to be wary of lagging behind a Williams car like this at upcoming narrow tracks like Imola and Monaco. It would be embarrasing for the seven-time champion!
