Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari contract has secret clause which could explain disastrous start to 2025

Lewis Hamilton's tough start to life at Ferrari could be explained by a little-known clause in his contract with the Italian F1 team.

Ferrari's start to the 2025 F1 season has been far from what was expected, however, Hamilton, in particular, has been well below par.

Despite grabbing pole position and victory in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint Hamilton has finished behind Charles Leclerc in all five races so far, and been out-qualified on four out of five occasions.

Following his seventh-placed finish at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix which saw his teammate finish on the podium, Hamilton admitted his failure to adapt could continue all season.

"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," he told reporters.

“I just lacked grip, I lacked good balance. It was just fighting the car every corner and nothing I did would work.

“Every lap, every time you’re going around, you’re trying to adapt and improve on that specific spot.”

Hamilton hindered by contract clause

However, Hamilton's Ferrari contract could explain his tough start to life in red, with one clause in particular not making life any easier for the 40-year-old.

As reported by Planet F1 last year, there is a 'no-poaching' clause in Hamilton's Ferrari contract.

This means that the seven-time world champion cannot approach any members of the Mercedes team to make the switch to Maranello while they are still under contract.

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If Ferrari were able to bring across familiar faces to the garage such as his former race engineer Pete Bonnington, it would create a much more familiar environment for Hamilton to flourish in.

Planet F1 added that they have been informed by Mercedes that the presence of the clause is 'accurate'.

However, Hamilton did manage to bring one familiar face over to Ferrari with him as he reunited with Angela Cullen who left Mercedes in 2023.

The 50-year-old from New Zealand was Hamilton's chief confidante and assistant and was most often seen chasing after Hamilton on his scooter around the paddock.

Hamilton once said of Cullen, who is a mother of two as 'the single hardest-working woman that I get to be around'.