New Delhi: Since the start of the season, the driver who has created the most buzz has been Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari in the winter. The Maranello-based team generally believes that the Briton driver will revive Ferrari’s glory days in his hunt for his eighth driver’s title. However, the tale after two races it isn’t an exact fairy tale move to the Red racing team.
Following Saturday’s qualification in the Chinese Grand Prix, where Hamilton qualified in fifth place, the 40-year-old driver felt that there would be “swings and roundabouts”. It may have been a cliche from Hamilton, but it kind of summarizes the first two races at Ferrari. The only top moment for Hamilton at Ferrari so far has been winning the sprint race in China.
In the 2025 season opener in Australia, there was initial struggle with the car. Further, the seven-time world champion also found it troublesome to drive in the wet conditions in Melbourne. The strategy was a gamble which didn’t pan out well and there was also radio communication that was being inspected.
A bittersweet Chinese Grand Prix for Ferrari
BREAKING: Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix
Gasly and Leclerc’s cars were found to be underweight, while Hamilton’s car was deemed to have excessive skid wear#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/2YPuFk8DZL
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025
In the sprint race, Hamilton qualified at pole and ultimately won the race, dominating throughout to take home his first win at Ferrari. The main race, though, turned out to be a sore point yet again for Hamilton. At the opening lap, his teammate Charles Leclerc had almost taken the lead. He was one of the few who went the two-stop strategy and finished sixth, but got disqualified after his car didn’t pass the post-race technical check.
The disqualification was down to the fact that stewards found that the skid plank of Hamilton’s car had worn 0.5mm below the permissible 9mm limit. Ferrari have said that the fault was with them, but the mistake cost Hamilton eight points. Leclerc, who finished ahead of them, was also disqualified.
For Hamilton, the moments have been of stark contrast, in the two race weeks he has seen at Ferrari. These are not exactly the results that he would have hoped for coming to Ferrari. It is well known that it was Hamilton’s dream to drive in red, and given the pedigree Ferrari has, it is clear why he wanted to do so.
Ferrari are now fifth in the constructors’ championship, taking 17 points so far this season, tied with Williams. They lost a total of 18 points on their “fault” in the Chinese GP. Hamilton, after his sprint win, had shut his critics, but the “yapping” had only been stopped momentarily, it seemed.
Still, everything isn’t completely against Hamilton and Ferrari. Coming to a team that finished second in the constructors’ championship last season, with McLaren winning by just a narrow margin in the final race, is always a good sign. Hamilton later admitted that the setup changes made between the sprint and qualifying had affected his confidence with the car and felt the “balance was completely off”.
The radio chat in the Chinese GP was in the spotlight again after Hamilton was asked to move aside for his teammate, who appeared to be faster despite having a broken front wing. Hamilton, before the disqualification, though, had some positives to take, feeling they now had a knowledge of how they stood in accordance with performance.
Other cars, especially the two McLarens pace wise are much stronger, and Hamilton admitted that is the main thing they need to look at. The British driver felt they needed to improve the pace in order to “close the gap”. The two drivers are yet to figure out how to get the best out of the SF-25.
In the way that Ferrari qualified for the sprint race, it seemed that Ferrari have a lot of pace. However, it is down to the setting completely, and one step in the wrong way can make the car look a shadow of itself.
What can Lewis Hamilton take from his predecessors?
Historically, all the finest names who have joined Ferrari have always turned up with a championship to their name in their first season itself, with the exception of Michael Schumacher, who’s first Driver’s Championship after two years with the team. However, Hamilton may not have the window. However, there are notes which Hamilton can take from the German driver.
Hamilton needs to become part of the fabric at Maranello and needs to logically move into the whole setup. Everyone wants Lewis not to be at Ferrari because of his ambition to be at the team, but also to chase down his eighth title. What everyone hopes is that there is an extra tenth of a second in the red car that Hamilton can generate and, for one time topple Max Verstappen, Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri before his retirement.
Following the Chinese GP week, they now have a week off, and it will be crucial that they turn up for the Japanese GP weekend on a firmer note.
After two race weeks, Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has been more disappointments and except for one sprint race win, little has gone his way. Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
