After Friday’s practice in Suzuka, Lewis Hamilton suggested there was untapped potential in the Ferrari that they hoped to unlock before qualifying. However, it turned out to be more of the same for the British driver, as he was unable to challenge the top three, let alone contend for pole.
After the session, Hamilton remarked that the result didn’t reflect the hard work the team had been putting into the SF-25. While no team would ever admit to not working hard on improving their car, Ferrari’s case feels a bit peculiar.
Currently, Ferrari is roughly three to four-tenths off McLaren’s pace, with the Woking outfit proving to be the class of the field so far. Such a deficit doesn’t bode well in qualifying trim—and the Japanese GP session didn’t do them any favors. While Charles Leclerc somehow managed to qualify fourth, Hamilton could only secure P8.
Both drivers reportedly chose different setups before qualifying, which proved counterproductive for Hamilton. “On my part, I wasn’t able to extract all the potential, so we need to look at it. We chose two different paths in terms of set-up, probably Charles’ direction on the flying lap is better,” he said, per Autoracer.
Hamilton also mentioned that Ferrari has been forced to run the car slightly higher following their disqualification in China.
“Yes, we are running higher than we would like. I don’t know if everyone was in the same boat in that sense, but especially after the last race [in which my car was disqualified for excessive skid wear] we’re a little higher than we’d like to be,” he said.
Lewis Hamilton: This result isn’t a true reflection of the car’s potential. There’s performance to be found, and the team has been working incredibly hard behind the scenes. We’ll analyse the data overnight and do everything we can to come back stronger in the race.
[✍️ Scuderia… pic.twitter.com/SaqnFv0unJ
— sim (@simsgazette) April 5, 2025
However, Leclerc had a different perspective on the ride height aspect. He suggested that there were other issues with the car, which he couldn’t shed too much light on. “We have got some other issues, not particularly with the ride height of the car. I can’t go too much into detail.”
Does this mean Leclerc’s car was running lower than Hamilton’s?
That isn’t usually the case, as teams typically aim to keep variables like ride height consistent across both cars. Leclerc’s improved pace came down to the confidence he found during Friday’s free practice, which allowed him to attack the Suzuka circuit more effectively.
In contrast, Hamilton struggled with a mix of understeer and oversteer at various corner entries and exits—a key reason why he ended up four-tenths slower than the Monegasque.
Team Principal Frederic Vasseur theorized that Hamilton’s different setup could’ve cost him lap time in qualifying. But he didn’t deny the possibility of wind affecting his flying laps. “We need to understand what happened to Lewis in Q3 because until Q2, he was fighting for a thousandth with Leclerc. Anything could have happened, a bad choice of settings in qualifying or the wind”, the Frenchman opined.
