F1 insider has spotted something ‘bleak’ about Lewis Hamilton during Grand Prix weekends since Ferrari move

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Lewis Hamilton will be well aware of how important the second half of the 2025 Formula 1 season is.

It’s imperative that Ferrari secure second in the constructors’ championship for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, team principal Fred Vasseur is under increasing pressure, and his job could be on the line with his contract expiring at the end of the season.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will both want to increase their confidence heading into 2026 when F1’s regulations change, as they are still waiting for their first victories of 2025, excluding Sprint events.

Finally, Ferrari are planning a major update for the Belgian Grand Prix, and while next year’s car will look very different, there are some parts that can be carried over, or at least can inspire the work they do over the winter break.

Potentially more importantly than that, Hamilton and Leclerc will want to see that the likes of Loic Serra know how to tackle a problem when one arises with the car.

That’s arguably more critical than the SF-25 suddenly being able to challenge McLaren this season, but may also explain Hamilton’s mood during race weekends where things don’t quite go his way.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Lewis Hamilton’s mood during F1 media days has been ‘bleak’ since Ferrari move

Journalist and paddock insider Lawrence Barretto was speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast about Hamilton’s start to life at Ferrari.

Having interviewed him on multiple occasions this season, he explained: “For me, in the TV pen, it’s been a reasonably bleak experience interviewing Lewis because he’s been so down, I think, this year.

“I think he’d come in with so much optimism, obviously had that great Sprint day in China, and then it just hasn’t really worked for him.

“There have been a couple of things that have been repetitive. He’s talked about the brakes and how he can’t get comfortable with the brakes, and how he’s never experienced this before in his career.

“And there have been a couple of things where he just hasn’t felt that comfortable.

“Then, maybe, I would say in the last two races, Austria and here [Silverstone], since Ferrari have brought this floor upgrade, that significant tweak to the floor and to the diffuser, there’s been a little bit of a change in body language from Lewis.

“Look, he’s still nowhere near where he wants to be in terms of ultimate competitiveness, but it’s felt like he’s been able to have a more consistent car.

“One thing he’s often said to me is that he comes to a race weekend, he doesn’t know what car he’s going to get, he doesn’t know how that weekend is going to unfold.

“We haven’t really had that chat or that language used in the last couple of races. Look, it’s a sample of two, but I think the first 10 races were quite difficult and frustrating and irritating for Lewis, and maybe the last two races have been something of a corner turn for him.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Jolyon Palmer worried about Lewis Hamilton’s race pace since joining Ferrari

Hamilton currently sits sixth in the drivers’ championship, and would have been frustrated not to continue his streak of podiums at Silverstone last time out.

Many fans at the track would have been delighted for Nico Hulkenberg to finally break his podium duck, but Hamilton was the man that many of them came out to see.

Ferrari’s car suffers more than most in dirty air, which is hampering both Hamilton and Leclerc, as the SF-25 isn’t fast enough over one lap to leapfrog their rivals in qualifying.

However, Jolyon Palmer is worried Hamilton has lost some race pace since moving to Ferrari.

If that’s the case, then his chances of winning an eighth championship look slim at best alongside Leclerc.

However, no one knows what it’s going to be like driving next year’s car when the ground effect era finally comes to an end.