Lewis Hamilton paints a grim image about the upcoming races as he continues to struggle with Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton failed to understand his struggles with the Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Speaking to the media including Sportskeeda, after the race in Jeddah, the multiple world champion painted a grim picture for the upcoming races.

After qualifying seventh on the grid while Charles Leclerc started fourth, Hamilton was unable to finish higher than seventh. In contrast, his teammate gained a position and clinched a podium at the high-speed Jeddah Corniche Circuit and managed to keep Lando Norris’s McLaren at bay.

One of Hamilton’s key challenges in adapting to Ferrari has been his lack of familiarity with a non-Mercedes car after nearly a decade. Carlos Sainz is facing a similar situation at Williams, where he is driving a Mercedes-powered car for the first time. For both drivers, the adaptation process has required at least a few races, especially when it comes to recalibrating their muscle memory to new machinery.

In Saudi Arabia, Hamilton admitted to struggling in qualifying and felt the car did not behave as he wanted during the race. Much of his performance woes stem from a lack of connection with the car and difficulty finding the right balance. He explained that there isn’t a specific issue with the car itself, but rather a challenge in his ability to extract performance. In China, he took pole and won the sprint race, but was unable to replicate that form in the main race. He admitted there’s no clear explanation for the disparity in performance since.

Asked by Sportskeeda if the car balance issues he faces could improve at different tracks in the upcoming races, Lewis Hamilton said:

“Not particularly, no. Just going to try and improve from week to week.”

Asked if there was an analysis or understanding of why he did well in the China and couldn’t after that, he replied:

“I don't have an answer to that. It's nothing, you know, struggling with balance, struggling to feel the car beneath me. But, yeah, there's no particular thing it's just, there's nothing to say, ‘Hey, this is the issue.’”

Asked if his struggles were only car-specific, Lewis Hamilton said:

“No, it's not. I mean, qualifying is me extracting the performance. And in the race today, I did everything, I tried everything, and the car just didn't want to go quicker.”

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Lewis Hamilton claims there is no immediate fix for his problems with the Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton claims his struggles with the Ferrari might not have a solution in the immediate future. Painting a grim picture in a pessimistic tone, the British champion admitted the road ahead could be a painful one. He believes that the ground effect era of modern Formula 1 cars is partly to blame for his performance issues in recent years.

In 2025, Hamilton has only managed to outqualify and outperform his teammate Charles Leclerc once, which was during the sprint race in China. While there is no clear explanation for why he was so strong in the sprint but not in the main race, a disparity in car setups remains. Hamilton has been more experimental with his setups, whereas Leclerc has opted for consistency and has more experience driving Ferrari cars. Hamilton noted that there wasn’t much difference in their data, apart from tyre degradation, which was more pronounced through the corners on his side. He also stated that Leclerc’s familiarity with the car gave him an advantage in both performance and confidence behind the wheel.

When asked if it is going to continue like this for weeks or months, Lewis Hamilton said:

“At the moment there's no fix, this is how it's going to be for the rest of the year. It's going to be painful.”

When asked if there is anything the team can do in the gap between the races to make it easier for him, he replied:

"I don't anticipate that but you know we do have slightly different setups I have to look and see whether that setup is that's the way the car likes to be or sets. And yeah him [Leclerc] and his side are definitely also doing a bit of job right now.”

When asked if it was safe to say the ground effect era of F1 cars had not been great for him, he replied:

“The worst."

When asked if there was anything different Leclerc was doing to him in terms of data or driving, Lewis Hamilton explained:

“Well, I mean he’s been driving this car for a long time, so he's definitely knows it really well. There's plenty in the data for sure. I mean honestly like it doesn't look massively different in the data. Just deg [degradation] was slower through the corners."

Lewis Hamilton’s highest points-scoring result across five race weekends has been his pole position and win in the sprint race. In a regular Grand Prix, his best finish so far has been fifth place at the Bahrain GP. The Briton is yet to secure a podium or reverse his ongoing performance struggles.

Ferrari introduced a new floor on the car in Bahrain, and by the Saudi Arabian GP weekend, Charles Leclerc had already secured a podium. However, the gap between the two drivers in qualifying has been considerable.

At present, Lewis Hamilton sits seventh in the drivers’ standings with a total of 31 points, while Leclerc is fifth with 47 points. Ferrari is fourth in the constructors’ standings with 78 points, trailing Red Bull Racing by eleven.