Lewis Hamilton makes alarming prediction over Ferrari campaign after dismal Saudi Arabian GP

Lewis Hamilton confessed that things might not improve for him at Ferrari for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Lewis Hamilton makes alarming prediction over Ferrari campaign after dismal Saudi Arabian GP

Lewis Hamilton (via IMAGO)

Lewis Hamilton was expected to have a stellar season at Scuderia Ferrari this year. The Tifosi hoped to see Hamilton bring glory back to Maranello during his stint at the Italian team. However, the 2025 campaign has been far from ideal for this new union. After yet another disappointing weekend, the seven-time world champion admitted that things do not look good for the rest of the year.

At the Saudi Arabian GP, Hamilton had a tough start after qualifying in seventh place for the main race. The Briton admitted that he was struggling to get pace out of the race. Lewis Hamilton did seem to be making some progress on Sunday. However, things did not improve with the 40-year-old crossing the finish line in P7. On the other hand, his teammate Charles Leclerc went on to clinch a podium for the Scuderia.

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The seven-time world champion confessed that he tried everything during the race to try and get more pace out of the SF25. Unfortunately, it was not enough, with Hamilton finishing over 30 seconds behind Leclerc. The F1 star predicted that his struggles will likely continue at the next round of the season in Miami.

In qualifying it’s [a question of] me extracting performance. In the race today, I tried everything, and the car just didn’t want to go quicker. I think I’ll struggle also in Miami. 

Lewis Hamilton said, as quoted by The Race

Moreover, when asked about the potential solution to his struggles, Lewis Hamilton gave a straightforward reply. The Ferrari driver claimed that there was no fix in sight. So much so, that Hamilton expected himself to continue this ‘painful’ stint for the rest of the season.

At the moment there’s no fix. So … this is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year. It’s going to be painful.

Lewis Hamilton explained

Lewis Hamilton compares performance with Charles Leclerc

Heading into the 2025 season, fans expected Lewis Hamilton to be right on pace with Charles Leclerc from the get-go. The seven-time world champion was believed to be in the perfect position to outperform the Monegasque driver and lead Ferrari to success. However, this has not been the case so far.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (via Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc (via Ferrari)

After the Saudi Arabian GP and the stark difference in performance of the two drivers, Lewis Hamilton pointed out that Leclerc has driven Ferrari cars for a much longer time compared to him. The Monegasque has raced for the Scuderia since 2019. Thus, Hamilton hinted that it was a lot easier for his teammate to get more out of the car.

I mean, he’s been driving this car for a long time, so he definitely knows it really well.

Lewis Hamilton stated

Additionally, the seven-time world champion revealed that the data shows that he is usually a bit slower in the corners compared to Leclerc. This could be due to the slightly different set-ups adopted by the two Ferrari drivers as per their comfort. While Lewis Hamilton acknowledged that the other side of the garage is doing a better job when it came to extracting performance.

I mean, honestly, like, it doesn’t look massively different in the data. Just… I go slower through the corners. We do have slightly different set-ups, I have to look and see whether that set-up is the way the car likes to be. Yeah, him and his side are definitely obviously doing a better job.

Lewis Hamilton noted

Certainly, Lewis Hamilton has a lot to do if he wants to bounce back this year. The seven-time world champion hoped for a far better debut campaign at Ferrari. However, it remains to be seen if the Scuderia can get back on-track in the coming races.