Having developed what was the fastest F1 car I the closing races of the 2024 season, Ferrari have arrived in 2025 with a new F1 creation that is miles off the pace. In Miami Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc was a disappointing 3/10ths slower than Mercedes’ pole sitter Kimi Antonelli but Lewis Hamilton closed the gap to his team mate to just under 2/10ths.
Hamilton had come off the back of two disappointing race weekends in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where his hot laps in qualifying saw him 6/10ths and half a second respectively slower than the Monegasque. The seven times world champion recognised his own improvement behind the wheel but noted the SF-25 still lacks pace.
“I thought it was a better session,” said Hamilton. “P1 (free practice) was probably a bit better, the car was a bit nicer to drive in P1. But, yeah, we’re just lacking speed. I just keep working on from there.” Yet when pressed on whether he could move forward during the Sprint from his starting position of P7, Lewis was less than optimistic.
Ferrari rue decision to build ‘new’ car
“Not really, I think all the cars ahead are faster,” he admitted. “So, yeah, I don’t really know what else to say.” Overtaking is not the easiest around the street style F1 circuit built in the shadow of the Miami Dolphins Hard Rock stadium and in the Sprint there are no mandatory pit stops to make.
Charles Leclerc admitted to assembled media after the session, “It’s not been the first part of the season we wished we had, but it’s the first part of the season we had. So now we need to focus on what’s ahead and try to improve just like we have in the last three races. I think we’ve done good steps in the right direction and now it’s all about building on that and hopefully having the first victory as soon as possible.”
Yet six race weekends in Ferrari are solidly the fourth quickest team on the grid and there’s no imminent sign of improvement. Their rate of progress towards the end of last season should have seen the iconic team in red at the front of the grid competing with McLaren. Following the Singapore Grand Prix in 2024, the Scuderia were 75 points behind the team from Woking, yet come the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi, the deficit was was down to just 14.
Unlike McLaren whose 2025 F1 car is an evolution of its predecessor, Ferrari decided on building a completely new car even switching their front suspension from pull rod to push rod. Clearly this has been a big mistake from the Italian team and the price being paid is that Lewis Hamilton suffered the ignominy of seeing a rookie take pole in his old Mercedes car in Miami.
Hamilton irritation with his engineer resurfaces
Whilst Leclerc candidly admitted his Sprint qualifying lap was as good as he could deliver, Hamilton was displaying further signs of discomfort with his new race engineer. Speaking on team radio in SQ2 the Ferrari driver requested information about where he was losing time. After a confusing response the frustrated driver again demanded the information presumably based on his team mates efforts.
“Can you be clear?” he said. “Just give me the times, sector 1, 2, 3.” With Mercedes refusing to release Lewis’ former engineer Pete Bonnigton, with whom Hamilton had developed a legendary relationship, Lewis for the first time in twelve year’s is having to learn how to build a proper communication channel with his new engineer Riccardo Adami.
Adami was the engineer for Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel, who each at times had difficulty with the engineer and the manner of the information presented over Ferrari team radio. As if further proof was required the Hamilton/Adami relationship is not working properly, come the end of SQ2 the Ferrari driver almost missed out on his final run.
“You’re really confusing, end of lap there… you said I had five seconds left,” said Hamilton, who in fact barely crossed the line before the session ended.
Lewis monosyllabic answers
Lewis Hamilton’s attitude in Miami has been criticised by BBC veteran pit lane reporter Jennie Gow, who suggested his almost monosyllabic re[plies in the FIA press conference made it difficult for her producer to create even the smallest of clips.
When asked by host Tom Clarkson what was preventing Lewis from unlocking the potential of the Ferrari when compared to his team mate, Hamilton was sullen. “Many things,” he said. “Lots of different things. There’s not one particular.”
When the questions were opened up to the floor, Sky F1 commentator David Croft asked whether it was reasonable to expect a driver joining a new team to be as on top of the car as the existing driver. “I mean, there are elements of that that are true,” Hamilton said. “But it’s different for everyone.”
Sainz transitions whilst Hamilton still 2nd best
The difference is between Hamilton and Sainz who he replaced is that the Spaniard looked uncomfortable in the Williams when compared to Albon his team mate for the first three weekends. Then in Bahrain something clicked and Carlos was quicker than his team mate in qualifying and then again next time out in Jeddah.
Bar the China Sprint event, Hamilton has yet to out qualify his team mate and has trailed the Monegasque driver home in each of the five Grand Prix this year. Leclerc has almost 50% more points than Hamilton with the gap in Miami expected to grow further.
At least with Leclerc claiming he got the maximum out of his Ferrari in Sprint qualifying this weekend, Hamilton can take comfort he was less than 2/10ths behind his young team mate.
FIA trick regulation to prevent 2026 power unit dominance
Whilst for now the 2025 season is nip and tuck between the pair of McLaren’s and Max Verstappen, the Miami Grand Prix may become the defining moment of the season before the teams head to their European homeland for ten rounds of Grand Prix racing.
As happened in Belgium and Las Vegas in 2024, the Mercedes car is suddenly looking like a race winner and with Kimi Antonelli the youngest ever pole sitter in an F1 race starting from pole in Saturday’s Sprint, Toto Wolff will be hoping his drivers can start to contend for race wins, rather than hope for podiums each weekend at best.
Lewis Hamilton appears to be getting to grips with his tricky Ferrari as he finished Sprint qualifying in P7, but was just under 2/10ths slower than his team mate who will start the short race form one place ahead of the former world champion… READ MORE
The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
