Hamilton Adapts Quickly - But Ferrari Puzzle Remains

Hamilton’s Learning Curve: Closing in on Leclerc Fast

Lewis Hamilton is closing the gap to Charles Leclerc but admits he’s still figuring out Ferrari’s SF-25. Progress is clear, but challenges remain.

Lewis Hamilton reflected on his progress with Ferrari’s SF-25 after qualifying in Australia, acknowledging improvement but admitting he still has a way to go in fully understanding the car.

At the start of the weekend, the seven-time world champion was nearly half a second behind his teammate Charles Leclerc. By the time qualifying came around, that gap had narrowed to just two-tenths.

While Hamilton recognized the progress, he was honest about the challenges he still faces:

“If you look at the high-speed sections, Charles has been ahead all weekend. He got to grips with the car immediately, from Free Practice 1. For me, it’s been a gradual process, getting better step by step.”

“I feel like I’ve come much closer by the end of the weekend, but I still haven’t figured everything out yet.”

Adjusting His Driving Style

Hamilton has been studying Leclerc’s driving approach closely. On the opening day of practice, the differences in their styles were clear.

The British driver was more aggressive on the brakes, stopping later and harder than Leclerc, which caused him to slow the car down more. While he managed to rotate the car quickly and get back on the throttle, he consistently lost time mid-corner compared to Leclerc—just a few hundredths of a second in medium and slow-speed turns, but enough to make a difference.

This was a contrast to his struggles last year at Mercedes, where he often lost time to George Russell due to oversteer—either because of instability at the rear of the car or a too-aggressive corner entry that the car simply couldn’t handle.

However, what stood out was how quickly Hamilton adapted his approach by Saturday. Already in FP3, he was mirroring Leclerc’s lines more closely in the first sector, braking slightly earlier into Turns 1, 2, and 3. By qualifying, Hamilton’s speed profile resembled Leclerc’s much more—carrying higher minimum speeds through corners rather than a sharper drop-off caused by later braking.

Still a Learning Process

When asked how long it would take to be fully comfortable with the SF-25, Hamilton admitted he wasn’t sure:

“Honestly, I thought I was further along than I actually was. Then I got here for FP1 and thought, ‘Wow, I still have a long way to go!’ There are so many tools I’m still figuring out.”

“Charles asks me, ‘Are you using this or that setting?’ And I’m like, ‘I haven’t even tried it yet. How does it work?’ He knows everything inside out, and I don’t yet. It’s one thing to talk about it, but actually feeling it on track is completely different.”

Hamilton highlighted how, for the first time in years, he’s leaning heavily on his engineers for guidance:

“We’ve done a great job improving the car. But normally, with experience, when there’s a problem, I know exactly what setting to change to fix it. Right now, I don’t. I’m still figuring out which tools to use.”

“So I’m relying a lot on my engineers at the moment, and they’ve been doing an incredible job. Before, I’d just tell them exactly what I wanted—this setting, that adjustment. But right now, I can’t do that yet.”

While he’s making clear progress, Hamilton is still adjusting to his new machine. But if his learning curve continues at this pace, it won’t be long before he’s fully in the fight.