{"id":316865,"date":"2025-08-04T10:08:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T10:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/316865\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T10:08:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T10:08:14","slug":"lewis-hamilton-is-frustrated-and-struggling-in-f1-2025-how-concerned-should-ferrari-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/316865\/","title":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton is frustrated and struggling in F1 2025. How concerned should Ferrari be?"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUDAPEST, Hungary \u2014 Lewis Hamilton knew the emotions of life in Formula One would be much stronger upon joining Ferrari.<\/p>\n

The highs racing for F1\u2019s most successful and iconic team would be higher than anywhere else. And the lows would feel that bit sharper.<\/p>\n

Emotional extremes fill Hamilton\u2019s first half-season wearing the famed red suit. The joy of his sprint race win in China was tempered by a disqualification from the main Shanghai race one day later. The struggles that followed eventually became progress toward matching teammate Charles Leclerc\u2019s faster pace.<\/p>\n

But the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix was a particularly tough weekend for Hamilton, who lamented being (in his words) \u201cuseless\u201d after qualifying 12th on Saturday. He even suggested Ferrari \u201cprobably need to change driver\u201d when Leclerc took pole in the same car.<\/p>\n

They were comments made not long after he\u2019d climbed from his car, with emotions still running high. Yet Hamilton showed little sign of rowing back on his frustration after Sunday\u2019s race, where he\u2019d again finished 12th after a difficult outing that was uneventful bar his off when Max Verstappen tried a tricky pass.<\/p>\n

It marked the first time in Hamilton\u2019s 19-season F1 career he\u2019d crossed the finish line and not scored in the points in Hungary. And he holds a record eight wins at the track. He wasn\u2019t helped by Ferrari\u2019s \u201cbet,\u201d as team principal Fred Vasseur called it, of starting on hard tires \u2014 the contra strategy compared to the leaders. Nor was he aided by the lack of quality overtaking opportunities when stuck in a train of cars mid-race at a track were passing is very hard.<\/p>\n

When he was reminded of his post-qualifying comments after the race, Hamilton told reporters he felt \u201cthe same\u201d as he had on Saturday, his tone and emotion unshifted. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, he said: \u201cWhen you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There\u2019s a lot going on in the background that is not\u2026 great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamilton didn\u2019t specify what that was in reference to, but added to Sky that he still loves racing and \u201cstill loves the team.\u201d In the print media pen afterwards, he said he was \u201clooking forward to coming back\u201d after the summer break. \u201cHopefully I\u2019ll be back, yeah,\u201d Hamilton said.<\/p>\n

When asked if he was ready for the four-week gap to Zandvoort, he replied: \u201cVery much so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton is ready for F1\u2019s summer break (Andrea Diodato\/NurPhoto\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The 40-year-old\u2019s love for racing may still be there, and a lot of his frustration in Budapest can be attributed to emotions running hot immediately post-session. But at no point during the dream move to Ferrari could Hamilton have anticipated he\u2019d be so far down the order while his teammate vied for victory. Expectations, undoubtedly, have not been met, making Hamilton\u2019s emotion entirely understandable.<\/p>\n

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff spent over a decade working with Hamilton and shared plenty of good and bad in that time, witnessing him climb to his absolute peak as a seven-time world champion, as well as enduring a frustrating final year together in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is Lewis wearing his heart on his sleeve,\u201d Wolff said in Hungary. \u201cIt\u2019s what he thought very much when he was asked after the session. It was very raw. He was doubting himself. We had it in the past when he felt that he\u2019d given it his all and underperformed to his own expectations. He\u2019s been that emotionally transparent since he was a young adult.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo he\u2019s going to beat himself up. He\u2019s the G.O.A.T. and he will always be the G.O.A.T. Nobody is going to take that away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Post-race in Hungary, Vasseur showed no sign of concern when discussing Hamilton\u2019s self-critical comments. \u201cHe\u2019s demanding, but I think it\u2019s also why he\u2019s a seven-time world champion,\u201d Vasseur said. \u201cHe\u2019s demanding with the team, with the car, with the engineers, with the mechanics, with myself. But first of all, he\u2019s very demanding of himself. It\u2019s always been a good motivation for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

A difference of 11 positions between the Ferrari cars in qualifying on Saturday was stark and disappointing for Hamilton. But Vasseur was quick to point out the fine margins involved: Hamilton was within two-tenths of Leclerc in Q1, and just 0.247 seconds behind in Q2. Had he gone a mere 15 milliseconds quicker, he\u2019d have made it through to Q3, and things could have looked very different, as they did for Leclerc (who only progressed to Q3 with sixth in Q2).<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s really on the edge,\u201d Vasseur said.<\/p>\n

But those edges do make all the difference, especially in this current ultra-competitive F1 age. So long as Hamilton is on the wrong side of it, he\u2019s going to be frustrated and introspective, wanting to understand how he can do better.<\/p>\n

Entering a team as big and different as Ferrari this year, Hamilton was always going to encounter change and challenges. From the moment he joined for his first private tests in January, he embedded himself with the team, parking his motorhome up at the test track next to the factory in Maranello. He gave his all to help. The belief he could win a record eighth world title wearing Ferrari red was unshaken.<\/p>\n

As recently as Thursday in Hungary, he made his commitment and faith in the team clear. \u201cI know this team has absolutely every ingredient that\u2019s needed to succeed,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI truly believe in that. That\u2019s why I signed.\u201d<\/p>\n

There have been encouraging signs of progress through this season from Hamilton, whose cause has been hindered by a difficult Ferrari car that, according to Leclerc, required some \u201cextreme\u201d setups to be at its fastest and remain legal. The team has had to compromise with the ride height of the car for much of the year to avoid a repeat of its double disqualification in China, something eased by the rear suspension update introduced at Spa two races ago.<\/p>\n

On average, Hamilton trailed Leclerc by 0.327 seconds in qualifying through the first five races. From Miami to Silverstone, that gap dropped to just 0.051 seconds, but stretched back out to 0.101s, when accounting for Spa and Budapest.<\/p>\n

At Spa, Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 and also dropped out in SQ1 after a spin, having switched to a new specification of braking pad that Leclerc had been using since Canada.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This has not been the Ferrari era Hamilton imagined (Clive Rose\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Vasseur showed no concern about Hamilton\u2019s comments in Hungary, appreciating his position and claiming it wasn\u2019t a worrying sign for him to be that far down the order. \u201cI don\u2019t need to motivate him,\u201d Vasseur said. \u201cHonestly, he\u2019s frustrated, but not demotivated. It\u2019s a completely different story.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also claimed not to be worried about Hamilton\u2019s form and brace of P12s in Hungary, joking he \u201cwould prefer to do P1 and P1, but we already know that you could ask the same question to Max (and get the same answer). I think it\u2019s a championship, this season, (that) is completely different. It\u2019s very tight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vasseur also batted back a question about getting value for money with Hamilton, pulling a somewhat bemused face. \u201cI\u2019m not sure that I understand your question, or if I understand, it\u2019s not a good one\u2026\u201d he said. \u201cWe are taking drivers because we want to compete in the championship, and to score points, and to win races.\u201d<\/p>\n

That rings just as true for Hamilton. He wants to be back at the very front, returning to the fray of a championship fight. Anything less than that is going to breed disappointment and, in Hungary, self-criticism.<\/p>\n

What will matter now is how Hamilton can respond at the Dutch Grand Prix on Aug. 31. Ferrari\u2019s car has made a step with the updated suspension, allowing Leclerc to take an unlikely pole in Hungary and lead the first half of the race. Ferrari does look to have emerged as the second-fastest team behind McLaren. Its team principal, Andrea Stella, said he was expecting an \u201centertaining\u201d final stretch after the summer break, thanks to the threat from the red cars.<\/p>\n

If Hamilton can bounce back from the disappointment of Spa and Budapest, and get back to the kind of margins he had to Leclerc before this double-header, he\u2019ll likely be in the mix again.<\/p>\n

Summer will offer a chance to reset and digest a whirlwind, rollercoaster start with Ferrari. And, crucially for Hamilton, get back into a more positive frame of mind.<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Andrea Diodato\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUDAPEST, Hungary \u2014 Lewis Hamilton knew the emotions of life in Formula One would be much stronger upon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4199,707,4200,4979,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-316865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-formula-1","10":"tag-formula1","11":"tag-motorsports","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114969949316108824","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}