Ferrari showed flashes of brilliance, pace-wise, on day one of the Japanese GP weekend. The SF-25 appeared to be the third-fastest car, but there’s still a lot more the team can do to improve, according to Lewis Hamilton.
The seven-time world champion was happy to return to Suzuka—a track where he has won four times in the past. Driving around the iconic circuit in Ferrari’s red overalls was a special experience, but is a win on the cards to make it even more memorable? Hamilton feels that would be a bit too optimistic.
“We felt great, we got through all the program, we’ve got some performance we need to pick up, we’re not the quickest at the moment, but I think it’s a good baseline,” he said after FP2, where he finished P4.
The session was plagued by four red flags. Still, Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc managed to complete 14 laps each—the most of any team. However, pace-wise, they were trailing behind McLaren and Mercedes. The question heading into Saturday now is: how much ground do they need to cover to catch up—or even surpass—them?
There wasn’t much to separate the two Ferrari drivers. Leclerc was just four hundredths of a second behind Hamilton in P7 during FP2, while in FP1, the Monegasque had edged ahead by eight hundredths of a second.
“We felt great, we got through all the program, we’ve got some performance we need to pick up, we’re not the quickest at the moment but I think it’s a good baseline.”
— sim (@simsgazette) April 4, 2025
But McLaren and Mercedes were simply too quick for the Ferrari duo to match.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri topped the two practice sessions, respectively, firmly establishing McLaren as the benchmark team to beat. Meanwhile, Mercedes’ George Russell wasn’t far off—finishing second to Norris, just a tenth and a half behind.
Had it not been for the multiple red flag interruptions in FP2, Russell might have ended the session much closer to Piastri’s leading McLaren. As things stand, Ferrari appears to be facing a deficit of roughly two to three-tenths compared to McLaren and Mercedes.
Ferrari’s prospects in Japan
Even though they’ve shown the potential to be podium contenders, Ferrari haven’t been able to capitalize on it so far. That’s been the story of their 2025 season. Nevertheless, coming off a double disqualification in China, the Italian outfit will be eager to secure a strong points haul at the Japanese GP.
A victory might be a stretch, but with rain looming large over Sunday’s Grand Prix, the conditions could swing in Ferrari’s favor—at least, Hamilton would hope so.
Having secured his first win in red during the sprint race in Shanghai, the Briton is eager to taste Grand Prix champagne in Ferrari overalls. And with wet weather being his forte, one wouldn’t rule him out for a surprise podium in Suzuka.
Lewis Hamilton won the F1 Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix—his first victory as a Ferrari driver ️pic.twitter.com/xRed4lYmsO
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 22, 2025
However, Ferrari still needs to address a crucial challenge before thinking about their race result—their lack of qualifying pace. The SF-25 has been lacking raw speed over a single lap, putting them on the back foot from the start.
At a narrow circuit like Suzuka—where overtaking is notoriously difficult—qualifying as high as possible is essential. With no rain currently forecast for Saturday’s session, Ferrari will need to dial in the best possible setup to extract maximum performance in qualifying. That could be the key to securing a solid result on Sunday.
