Hamilton: Ferrari car promising, but ‘something is holding us back’

Despite a challenging weekend at the Miami Grand Prix – where both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished over a minute behind the leading McLarens – the Briton believes Ferrari has what it takes to rejoin the front-running teams in 2025.

But the eight-time World Champion also believes that “something is holding back” the Italian outfit’s performance.

Hamilton provided a glimmer of hope for Ferrari with a third-place finish in the Sprint race at the Miami International Autodrome, capitalizing on a decisive strategic call.

However, the team’s struggles with the SF-25 package were evident in qualifying, in which Leclerc finished P8 while Hamilton’s P12 left him stranded in Q2.

“Yeah, I had a good day in general. Eighth doesn’t really look like that,” commented Hamilton.

Still, he remained encouraged by the underlying potential of the car.

“I feel optimistic for the future. I think this car really does have performance. But something is holding us back at the moment.

“We’ve lost performance since China. It’s there, it’s just we can’t use it. Until we get a fix for that, then this is where we are.”

The seven-time World Champion acknowledged that Ferrari’s limitations have forced the team into battles further down the field than expected.

“Still, for us, we’re battling with the Williams here. So we’re clearly not as quick as we want to be. The Williams did a great job this weekend.”

Confidence in Ferrari’s Fightback

While Ferrari continues to struggle with extracting qualifying pace from its SF-25 car, Hamilton is encouraged by upcoming updates and changes in operational processes.

“In the meantime, we can work on the other stuff, all the other processes,” he said.

“But as I said, I came from the same last week. I felt like I generally had a better weekend.

“To get the third yesterday [in the Sprint] was positive. With a better qualifying… I only missed out by half a tenth [from getting into Q3].”

Hamilton is adamant that Ferrari can turn things around and emerge as serious contenders once their technical hurdles are overcome.

“I truly believe that when we fix some of the problems we have with the car, we’ll be back in the fight with the Mercedes, with the [Red] Bulls,” he added.

“It just can’t come quick enough.

“We’ll try something different in the next race. We’ll keep working on our processes. I look forward to the time where maybe I can fight for a podium. That would be nice.”

While the podium has remained elusive for Hamilton in red, his belief in Ferrari’s resurgence reflects a longer-term vision – one he hopes will begin paying off sooner rather than later.

Read also:

• Leclerc: No ‘bad feelings’ with Hamilton despite Miami strategy clash

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