Seven-time Method 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has opened up about his early-season difficulties with the Maranello workforce 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 gave the impression 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 regarded genuinely aggressive inside the prime six. That robust displaying 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 strategy 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Lewis Hamilton mirrored on how troublesome it may be for drivers to interrupt outdated habits, particularly after spending so a few years with the identical workforce. He defined that his long-standing driving fashion, developed over greater than a decade with Mercedes, didn’t instantly swimsuit 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 strategy—not solely by way of driving method but in addition in automotive settings. For instance, he famous that he saved counting on engine braking, one thing he had hardly ever 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 wholly completely different really feel and adaptation.
He acknowledged that he’s nonetheless adjusting however felt he was steadily beginning to perceive what the automotive wants, each by way of 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 Method 1 marketing campaign. The seven-time world champion, who boasts 105 Grand Prix victories, is now re-evaluating his strategy after a difficult begin with the Scuderia.
Following the Bahrain Grand Prix, the 40-year-old revealed that he plans to undertake a extra secure and constant set-up technique, mirroring the strategy utilized by his team-mate Charles Leclerc. Not like 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 steadily. Lewis Hamilton now believes that adopting the same methodology may present him with a extra stable basis to construct from.
The British driver acknowledged that making an attempt too many adjustments has typically left him disconnected from the perfect efficiency window, particularly when evaluating information 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, notably 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 last efficiency. Lewis Hamilton pressured the significance of enhancing his strategy 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 shifting ahead.
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