Charles Leclerc ‘considerably ahead’ of Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari fail to provide crucial thing at Spanish Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton will be desperate to find performance with Ferrari at the Spanish Grand Prix after a disappointing start to the 2025 season.

The seven-time champion is familiar with driving a Ferrari F1 car at the Barcelona circuit, having had numerous outings over the winter and mid-season. Hamilton crashed at the track in a TPC test in January; he now arrives at the Spanish Grand Prix looking for a strong result.

Ferrari have been underwhelming in 2025, with the SF-25 proving a difficult car to handle. Balance issues with the machine, as well as poor radio communication and botched strategy calls have left the team 177 points behind McLaren after eight races.

Charles Leclerc has scored the team’s two podiums thus far in Jeddah and Monaco, while his teammate is struggling to adapt to his new surroundings. Hamilton has a ‘chronic lack of confidence’ in the front end of the car as he sits sixth in the standings with 63 points.

Besides winning the Sprint in Shanghai, the 40-year-old has offered little competition to the frontrunners, much like last season with Mercedes. Despite his disappointing results, Ralf Schumacher says Hamilton’s age is not the issue as he searches for solutions at Ferrari.

The Spanish GP presents an opportunity for the Maranello outfit to gain on McLaren as the FIA introduce tighter restrictions on front wing flexing. But after Friday practice, Leclerc has a clear advantage over Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc is ‘considerably ahead’ of Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari cannot give him a ‘stable rear end’ in Spain

Hamilton’s pace looked strong in FP1 in Barcelona, finishing third on the timesheet behind Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, almost two tenths clear of Leclerc in fourth.

But the track evolution change in FP2 proved difficult for the Brit as he was down in 11th, almost three tenths behind his teammate in fifth. Hamilton described his SF-25 as ‘undrivable’ over the radio.

Speaking via RacingNews365, journalist Ian Parkes says Hamilton has not got a ‘stable rear end’ from his SF-25 yet. It explains why Leclerc has been ‘considerably ahead’ in Barcelona.

“Charles Leclerc, on the bubble, in terms of how he is going to figure in this mix. But his teammate Lewis Hamilton, describing his car as not drivable and he was 11th on the timesheet outside of the top 10,” he said.

“Now, what I’m hearing about that is that this car is more suited to Charles and this particular circuit, whereas for Lewis, who really requires a stable rear end, he’s not got that yet from his Ferrari.

“And that’s why Charles is considerably ahead of him and Lewis at the moment, he’s the one that has the work to do going into Saturday qualifying.”

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When will Ferrari bring upgrades to improve Lewis Hamilton’s fortunes in 2025?

The SF-25 clearly needs refining if Leclerc and Hamilton want to be competitive for the rest of the season. Ferrari and Red Bull are hopeful about the flexi-wing rules and that they will mix up the pecking order.

However, optimism is not high among the drivers. Hamilton does not know why Toto Wolff thinks Ferrari will improve with the technical directive, having seen little difference from the changes in the simulator.

Leclerc and Hamilton were ‘tough’ to interview in Barcelona as they did not give ‘imminent’ answers to their problems. They are struggling to find solutions in Maranello as Ferrari slip further away from the title picture.

Ferrari aim to bring rear suspension upgrades in Austria to fix Hamilton’s problem with the rear end. The 40-year-old will hope this will improve his fortunes in 2025.