Featured Image Credit: F1
Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Formula 1
Marcus Chan
Lewis Hamilton has seemingly given up on the 2025 season as Martin Brundle issued a damning verdict on the back of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Last month, things began to look good for seven-time Formula 1 world champion Hamilton as he won the Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix.
However, the Brit finished sixth in the main race before coming home seventh in Japan and fifth in Bahrain.
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During the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton endured a tough time as he qualified and finished in seventh place, more than 30 seconds behind teammate Charles Leclerc, who was third.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton gave a grim prediction for the rest of the 2025 season, seemingly giving up on hopes of closing the gap to the frontrunners.
He said: "There’s nothing. Balance, struggling to feel the car beneath me, but there’s no particular thing. It’s just, there’s nothing to say, ‘Hey, this is the issue.’
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"At the moment, there’s no fix. This is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year. It’s just going to be painful."
Reacting to Hamilton's continued struggles to adapt to his Ferrari, ex-F1 star Brundle was not buying into the 40-year-old's explanation.
He said: "Fred [Vasseur] summed it up, he said it’s been up and down, because there was a time when we talked about in commentary where he was in the mid 1:32s which was bang on the pace.
"He ended up 31 seconds behind Charles Leclerc, his team-mate. Obviously had a little bit more traffic because he was further down the grid so you can take some off for that but it was up and down.
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"I struggle to buy into he doesn’t understand the car. It’s a new car [but] here we are knocking on the door of May, and they’ve had all the preseason stuff and all that."
Brundle continued: "So I just think Lewis hasn’t gelled with this car and I don’t think he’s going the right way on the setup.
"I know from the things I’ve heard from Mercedes about how Lewis likes the car in a certain way. Obviously can’t get the car there, where he needs it, so it’s difficult days. But what’s a bit odd is, all of a sudden, he was right there.
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"(Oliver) Bearman, it took him in a day last year here, but then he wasn’t relearning a car. He was just getting in and learning a car. I’m struggling to buy into that, honestly, but we know Lewis is better. Lewis is faster than that. So something’s not working. Something’s not gelling there."