Lewis Hamilton admitted Ferrari had a problem with their car which affected both drivers “massively” during the Spanish Grand Prix.
However he said the team do not want their drivers to elaborate on the problem which compromised their race at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Hamilton slipped to sixth place at the end of the race as he found his car’s handling deteriorated throughout the race. “There’s something wrong with this car,” he told race engineer Riccardo Adami after taking the chequered flag, “it’s the worst it’s ever been.”
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s race Hamilton said the problem had compromised both drivers “massively” but he wasn’t allowed to share any details.
“Unfortunately they don’t want us really to talk too much about it, but we both had issues that were hindering us massively from halfway through the race already,” he said.
Having lost fifth place to Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber, Hamilton was dejected in the aftermath of the race. He admitted he was relieved to learn both drivers had problems with their cars.
“What I didn’t know is whether or not we had that problem,” he explained. “Obviously I said on the radio that it was the worst-feeling car that I’d ever had, and it truly was with that issue.
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“At the end of the race, I was kind of like, jeez, I’ve never experienced something this bad for such a prolonged time through a race. It wasn’t until after the TV interviews that we got back to the engineers and we found out there was an issue. So it was a bit of a relief to hear that because it definitely didn’t feel so terrible afterwards.”
Charles Leclerc, who finished third, indicated he understood the problem when he spoke on his radio after the race: “I know why the last part of the race was poor,” he said. “I’ll explain, but there is an explanation.”
Hamilton goes into his 10th race weekend at Ferrari sixth in the championship standings. He said his situation “looks a lot worse outside than it probably is on the inside” and “I don’t feel like I’m in desperate need” of a good weekend.
He said he is still adjusting to the difference in how Ferrari prepare their cars for each weekend compared to previous teams he has driven for.
“Just coming from engineering now, how they set the car up compared to any other year that I’ve been here is completely different. And [I’m] having discussions with engineers to change things, there’s a certain way they like to work. To say, ‘hold on a second, that doesn’t actually make sense; this is what I’ve done for the last 17, 18 years here and it’s worked in a lot of them’.
“So [it’s about] getting those things consistently working with the team and making sure you’re working in a constructive way to make changes. The car very much has a real sweet spot and we’re trying to get it working at all those tracks which everyone’s having a struggle with. I’m hoping this weekend can be strong.”
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2025 Spanish Grand Prix
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