Lewis Hamilton repeated the same complaint to Ferrari eight times during the Chinese Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton finally looks comfortable driving a Ferrari after finishing third at the Chinese Grand Prix, but that didn’t stop him from demanding more from his SF-26 on Sunday.

There is a clear pecking order establishing itself on the grid right now, with Mercedes leading Ferrari and a significant gap to the other nine teams in the paddock.

George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli have a Grand Prix victory each, while Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have one third-place finish apiece.

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Hamilton outqualified and outraced Leclerc, something that very rarely happened in 2025.

Jolyon Palmer has seen a changed Hamilton in the paddock, but the seven-time world champion was still suffering with a lack of power and battery issues throughout the Chinese Grand Prix, which will be slightly alarming to team principal Fred Vasseur.

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Lewis Hamilton kept telling Ferrari he had ‘no power’ throughout the Chinese Grand Prix

Hamilton’s radio communications with Carlo Santi appear far more coherent than when Riccardo Adami was his race engineer, and once again in Shanghai, their messages were very clear to each other.

However, with Hamilton taking on Russell and Leclerc in wheel-to-wheel combat for much of the race, he needed to extract every bit of potential out of his car to finish on the podium.

On lap five, Hamilton’s first complaint about the battery was heard, as he said: “Tyres are OK, just no battery.”

One lap later, he asked: “Have I got overtake?”, to which Santi replied: “Yes, you have, switch position yellow.” Hamilton admitted: “[It’s] hard to keep up with these guys.”

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“I have no power across the start line,” he explained on lap seven, and by lap nine, he was saying: “They’re just pulling away ahead,” in reference to the Mercedes drivers.

On lap 17, Hamilton repeated: “I don’t have battery, need more power mate,” and 14 laps later, he again said: “I’m just down on power all the time,” and it was clear that Hamilton was struggling to match Leclerc’s speed out of the final corner.

His final two complaints came on laps 33 and 35, firstly stating: “When I get on the pit straight, I have no power,” before begging Santi: “I have no power. Give me something, give me something usable. Out of the last corner, I’ve got no power.”

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Lewis Hamilton admits battery usage is still ‘very challenging’ after Chinese Grand Prix podium

It’s unclear whether Hamilton and Vasseur agree on Ferrari’s direction of development, with both the power unit and aerodynamics under the microscope.

Hamilton went on to speak about the battery and how much of a difference it made during the race as part of the official FIA post-race press conference.

He explained: “I think in testing, actually, I didn’t really get to experience it.

“It’s really more in these three races that we’ve had, with the Sprint race and this race and obviously Melbourne, that it’s really become apparent when you’re surrounded by the cars in the fight what battery usage is like, and when you have the boost, how to utilise it and all those sorts of things.

“So, very, very challenging. I mean, I don’t necessarily feel a huge step compared to these guys – when the boost is there, when you’re within that one second, they’re still pulling away on the straight.

“So we overall just need more. But it is much more study, I would say, than any other era that I’ve had, and you have to be very, very meticulous and pay attention to the fine detail.”

The new hybrid power units are causing plenty of discussion amongst the drivers, with the likes of Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso vocal about their dislike for the new regulations.

Hamilton is also having trouble with the battery aspect of the ruleset, but might already be very glad to see the back of the ground-effect cars, which never suited his style.