Lewis Hamilton Slams Spanish GP as His Worst Race Amid Ferrari Struggles and Setup Points
Lewis Hamilton labeled the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix as probably the most dismal race of his Method 1 profession, providing a scathing evaluation of a weekend that went from promising to disastrous. The seven-time world champion started the occasion with optimism after managing to outqualify Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc—one thing he had solely achieved as soon as earlier than this season, discounting Dash races. Nonetheless, the Monegasque had strategically saved a recent set of tyres, which might show advantageous on Sunday.
From the early phases of the race, tensions started to rise. Charles Leclerc voiced issues about Hamilton’s tempo over staff radio, prompting Ferrari to instruct Lewis Hamilton to maneuver apart. Whereas Leclerc surged forward, Hamilton discovered himself embroiled in a battle not along with his teammate however along with his former Mercedes colleague George Russell. Though the British driver initially gained the higher hand at Flip 1, he in the end dropped behind because the race unfolded.
Because the race wore on, former world champion Nico Rosberg noticed that Hamilton seemed to be grappling with points extra extreme than these affecting another driver that weekend. Sadly, this statement supplied little comfort for Hamilton, who as soon as once more discovered himself struggling to extract tempo from his Ferrari SF-25.
Ferrari staff principal Fred Vasseur didn’t provide a lot encouragement after the race both. He admitted that each drivers had skilled issues throughout the ultimate stint however was fast to disclaim that they’d confronted an identical points. He clarified to the Italian media that the difficulties the seven-time F1 world champion encountered weren’t associated to grease, countering any hypothesis that each vehicles had suffered from a shared mechanical flaw.
Fred Vasseur acknowledged that whereas Charles Leclerc additionally had issues, they had been unrelated to Hamilton’s struggles. In a subsequent interview, he elaborated that Hamilton had proven robust efficiency earlier within the race, however started affected by stability points within the ultimate stint. Nonetheless, he refused to reveal the precise nature of the issue, solely confirming that one thing had gone fallacious with Hamilton’s automobile.
This lack of readability is prone to concern Hamilton. The truth that his points weren’t the identical as Charles Leclerc’s, and as a substitute appeared to stem from the automobile’s setup or stability, would possibly point out that the SF-25 is as soon as once more proving incompatible along with his driving model. In contrast to Charles Leclerc, who continues to extract robust outcomes, Hamilton has discovered himself repeatedly falling brief.
The efficiency hole has now turn into a troubling pattern. Simply weeks prior in Monaco, Hamilton completed almost a full minute behind his Ferrari teammate—a regarding statistic that implies deeper compatibility or setup points.
Lewis Hamilton’s frustrations reached a boiling level in Spain when Nico Hulkenberg, driving the underpowered Sauber, simply handed him following a late security automobile restart. Regardless of Nico Hulkenberg being on more energizing mushy tyres, the sight of being overtaken by a automobile broadly considered the slowest on the grid was a bitter tablet to swallow.
Submit-race, the Briton didn’t maintain again when requested to mirror on his underwhelming efficiency. He admitted he had no rationalization, saying he had “no concept” what had gone fallacious and emphasizing that it had been a “actually unhealthy day.” He acknowledged that Ferrari had executed a strong technique and that the staff had carried out effectively, however emphasised that his personal race was a catastrophe.
Hamilton appeared emotionally drained as he dismissed the necessity to even attempt explaining what had occurred, and ominously steered that the staff most likely wouldn’t discover a resolution—implying that the difficulty would possibly merely lie with him.
Nico Rosberg speculated that Ferrari could have positioned Lewis Hamilton in a “horrible” scenario throughout the race, although the Ferrari staff boss will probably be extra involved in regards to the ever-widening hole between his two drivers. Hamilton had entered the Spanish Grand Prix with hopes of lastly standing on the rostrum as a Ferrari driver. As a substitute, he was pressured to look at Charles Leclerc deliver house one more trophy, whereas he was left grappling with extra unanswered questions.