‘Overwhelmed’ Lewis Hamilton keeps getting penalties due to ‘excessive demands’ at Ferrari

Follow us on Google Discover

Lewis Hamilton has been at the mercy of the FIA’s race stewards more regularly than he would want during the seven-time F1 champion’s first season with Ferrari in 2025.

The 40-year-old has frequently found himself on the naughty list so far this term, with a long list of charges lying at his feet. Hamilton was also disqualified from a Grand Prix for just the third time in his 19-year career after his second round as a Ferrari driver in China this March.

Hamilton was disqualified from the Chinese GP due to excessive wear to his underfloor skid plank, as Ferrari set his car’s ride height too low to the ground. But while Ferrari shouldered the blame in Shanghai, the record 105-time Grand Prix winner has more often been at fault.

Damon Hill thinks Hamilton “always comes off worse” with the stewards, given the penalties that the Briton has particularly received through the 2025 F1 season. Hamilton even claimed in Mexico that he felt “let down” by the FIA after seeing “double standards” with his penalty.

Lewis Hamilton is ‘overwhelmed’ by the amount that he still needs to adapt at Ferrari

Hamilton drew a 10s penalty during the Mexico City GP in October for leaving the track and gaining an advantage when he felt forced off by Red Bull racer Max Verstappen. Yet his rival got away without any punishment for leaving the track on Lap 1 and in their fight on L6/71.

READ MORE: How many penalty points every 2025 F1 driver has and who is close to a ban

It was just one penalty that Hamilton has merited during the 2025 F1 season, and it was also not his most recent. Hamilton was hit with a 5s penalty in the Sao Paulo GP for crashing into Franco Colapinto of Alpine on the opening lap, which also left him with race-ending damage.

Journalist Ralf Bach has now told F1-Insider that Hamilton’s penalties are partly the result of the “excessive demands” that the record 104-time polesitter is placing on himself, having so far failed to adapt to Ferrari’s methods or their car following his move to Maranello in 2025.

Bach told F1-Insider: “He’s not yet a unit with the team and the car. That’s for sure. The fact that he gets penalised so often also has something to do with the excessive demands that he’s currently under.

“He’s focusing so much on himself and the car that he can’t see the environment around him. He has to concentrate too much on himself to notice anything more than that. Maybe the yellow flags come too much as a surprise to him because he’s still dealing with himself.

“So, I think that’s more the reason for a certain amount of the excessive demands. But the excessive demands are now because he’s a bit older and he still hasn’t got used to the way of working [in Maranello] or handling of the Ferrari. He’s a bit overwhelmed.”

Lewis Hamilton keeps drawing penalties during his first season as a Ferrari F1 driver

Hamilton nearly received two penalties at Interlagos during his 21st round as a Ferrari driver to date. The FIA stewards in Sao Paulo let Hamilton off after investigating him failing to slow for double-waved yellow flags during Sprint Qualifying after teammate Charles Leclerc spun.

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

The Stevenage-born star did not see a light panel indicating the double-waved yellow flags as he passed Leclerc’s car at Interlagos. But Hamilton had no excuse for speeding in a yellow flag zone when he was penalised for an incident on his reconnaissance laps at the Dutch GP.

Hamilton was hit with a five-place grid penalty for the Italian GP, as he failed to slow for the double-waved yellow flags while practising attacking the pit entry ahead of the Dutch GP. It was dangerous given the close proximity of the pit lane to the personnel already on the grid.

Additionally, Hamilton received a three-place grid penalty for the Monaco GP after impeding Verstappen during Q1, when his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, had stated that the Red Bull pilot was on a cool lap. Verstappen had to abort a flying lap due to the incident at Massenet.

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso benefitted when Hamilton received a 5s penalty in the Singapore GP, as it demoted the Ferrari racer from P7 to P8. He was deemed to have gained an advantage when leaving the track in the closing stages following a front-left brake failure.