The data doesn’t lie in Formula 1 and the numbers generated from Lewis Hamilton’s performances since he joined Ferrari are cause for further concern around his fortunes
A trait has been spotted in the driving style of Lewis Hamilton which one Formula 1 pundit believes is making the Brit’s adaptation to Ferrari machinery that much harder. It has been a difficult start for Hamilton who has struggled for form since making the switch from Mercedes.
Other than a surprise first win in red in the Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, his form has been underwhelming. His best Grand Prix finish remains the fifth place he managed in Bahrain and Hamilton lies seventh in the drivers’ championship.
He has spoken many times of how he is struggling to adapt to his new car. And after the last race in Jeddah he issued a rather glum prediction when he said: “This is how it’s going to be for the rest of the year. It’s going to be painful.”
There is no doubt that Ferrari have a car that is not competitive enough to win races right now. And operationally there are improvements to be made, evidenced by their embarrassing double disqualification in the main China race, just a day after Hamilton’s Sprint success.
But while the Brit has struggled, team-mate Charles Leclerc has generally been able to squeeze all the performance he can out of the car. As a result, he is two places higher in the championship and secured the team’s first podium of 2025 in Jeddah.
Leclerc has raced for Ferrari for many years and so it is no surprise that he is more comfortable than Hamilton in these early weeks of the new season. But F1 TV pundit Alex Brundle has spotted something concerning in the seven-time champion’s data which suggests it will be tough for him to turn things around.
“He has talked about moving the car towards him, and he’s talked about moving himself towards the car,” said Brundle, referring to Hamilton, on the F1 Nation podcast. “I look at the data from Lewis every weekend – the trait is the same.
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“He goes into high-speed corners and hits a little bit more brake pressure than Charles Leclerc. You can draw a line directly up the wheel-speed graph, to the steering trace, and the brake aligns perfectly with a tiny bit of movement. It just upsets the Ferrari everywhere.
“Leclerc is just Mr. Measured on the brakes. We know that Lewis had a problem with the same thing, I saw the data, at Mercedes. Can he coach himself out of a lifetime’s worth of driving technique to move towards the car? We will find out.”
Modern F1 cars require more of a degree of instinctive actions from their drivers and Brundle went on to say that fact is going to make Hamilton’s task even tougher. He added: “It’s a killer trait to have in a car, especially if you’re behind because you look for the time, and it punishes you again. It gets worse and worse.
“Look at Carlos Sainz at Williams – he has completely engaged with their way of doing. Lewis is still behind the game at Ferrari so you wonder if it is going to be possible.”