Lewis Hamilton shares dire prediction for 2025 as Charles Leclerc continues to outclass him at Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton has predicted that his entire season will be similar to how it has been at Ferrari so far, with Charles Leclerc dominating him. The seven-time F1 world champion joined the Italian team this season after a 13-year stint at Mercedes.
Hamilton has not found comfort in the Ferrari five races into the new season. The Brit has only once had the edge over teammate Leclerc - in the sprint segment in China.
Hamilton secured a shock pole position and won the sprint in China, but other than that, it has been a one-way street. Charles Leclerc has been the benchmark at Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton has been chasing his tail, trying to get on top of the car.
Leclerc completely outclassed him over the entire Saudi Arabian GP weekend, worsening things for the British driver. First, it was qualifying, Hamilton was more than half a second down on his teammate. It was then followed by the race, where the former Mercedes superstar finished more than 30 seconds behind.
Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, after the race, Lewis Hamilton shared a dire prediction, saying that he expected the entire season to go this way.
"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. I don't know how much longer I'll struggle for, but it's definitely painful. 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 on why Charles Leclerc can handle the Ferrari
When questioned why Charles Leclerc could handle the car better, Lewis Hamilton felt it could be because his teammate has been driving a Ferrari for years. The Brit revealed that there's not much difference in the setup of the two drivers, and it's just a case of Leclerc doing a better job.
"I mean, he's been driving this car for a long time, so he 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... I go slower through the corner. We do have slightly different setups, I have to look and see whether that setup is the way the car likes to be. Yeah, him and his side are definitely obviously doing a better job," he said in the same media interaction.
Hamilton would hope for better results in the coming races, but conceding defeat at this early stage of his Ferrari journey will raise quite a few eyebrows.