Seven-time System 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has opened up about his early-season difficulties with the Maranello staff and believes these struggles maintain the important thing to understanding why Charles Leclerc had the higher hand throughout the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion admitted that adapting to his new atmosphere has taken time however insists he’s now able to make changes to shut the hole to his teammate.
The 40-year-old crossed the end line in fifth place on the Bahrain Worldwide Circuit, trailing Charles Leclerc by eight seconds. With that outcome, the Monegasque driver prolonged his head-to-head benefit over Lewis Hamilton to 4-0 in Grand Prix races to this point this yr.
Regardless of what seemed to be one other underwhelming outing for the previous Mercedes star, there have been loads of positives to remove. Hamilton delivered a spirited drive, executing a number of daring overtakes on prime rivals equivalent to Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
His tempo on race day confirmed clear enchancment, and for the primary time since his Dash Race victory in China, Lewis Hamilton seemed genuinely aggressive throughout the prime six. That robust exhibiting has given him confidence and a clearer image of what has held him again.
Reflecting on his efficiency in Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton now believes he understands what has allowed his Maranello teammate to outperform him within the opening rounds. Armed with that perception, the British driver says he plans to refine his method within the coming races in a bid to match—and finally surpass—his teammate’s type.
Lewis Hamilton mirrored on how troublesome it may be for drivers to interrupt outdated habits, particularly after spending so a few years with the identical staff. He defined that his long-standing driving fashion, developed over greater than a decade with Mercedes, didn’t instantly go well with the traits of his new Ferrari automotive.
The Briton identified that the transition had been difficult as a result of the Ferrari required a very completely different method—not solely when it comes to driving approach but additionally in automotive settings. For instance, he famous that he saved counting on engine braking, one thing he had not often utilized in earlier seasons. The seven-time F1 world champion additionally talked about the numerous distinction in brake techniques, having used Carbon Industries (CIs) for round 15 years, whereas the present setup—Brembo brakes—demanded a completely completely different really feel and adaptation.
He acknowledged that he’s nonetheless adjusting however felt he was step by step beginning to perceive what the automotive wants, each when it comes to steadiness and driving enter.
Lewis Hamilton has admitted that carrying over his acquainted Mercedes habits into his debut season with Ferrari hasn’t delivered the specified outcomes to this point within the 2025 System 1 marketing campaign. The seven-time world champion, who boasts 105 Grand Prix victories, is now re-evaluating his method after a difficult begin with the Scuderia.
Following the Bahrain Grand Prix, the 40-year-old revealed that he plans to undertake a extra steady and constant set-up technique, mirroring the method utilized by his team-mate Charles Leclerc. In contrast to Lewis Hamilton, who’s well-known for experimenting with numerous automotive settings all through a race weekend, Charles Leclerc tends to decide on a working baseline early on and refines it step by step. Lewis Hamilton now believes that adopting an identical technique may present him with a extra strong basis to construct from.
The British driver acknowledged that attempting too many modifications has generally left him disconnected from the perfect efficiency window, particularly when evaluating knowledge with Charles Leclerc. He identified that whereas his team-mate usually sticks with one set-up all through the weekend, his personal changes had usually taken him too far off beam, significantly in current races.
He admitted that whereas he managed to shut the hole to Charles Leclerc simply earlier than qualifying in Bahrain, their configurations had been nonetheless considerably completely different, which impacted his ultimate efficiency. Lewis Hamilton burdened the significance of enhancing his method throughout race weekends and expressed confidence that he’s able to doing so. He made it clear that he’s decided to refine his consistency and alignment with the automotive’s calls for transferring ahead.
Purchase official Ferrari F1 merchandise!
Let different Scuderia Followers find out about us
