Ted Kravitz says Lewis Hamilton is dealing with an ‘old Mercedes problem’ but Ferrari won’t explain it

Follow us on Google Discover

Lewis Hamilton bagged pole position in just his second qualifying session as a Ferrari driver, and then went on to win the race. But the events of the Sprint in China are a decent memory.

The Ferrari has never looked as good as it did on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in Shanghai. While there have been glimpses of contending pace in Monaco, Great Britain and Hungary, the Scuderia are a level below expectations.

They finished just a fraction behind McLaren in last year’s world championship, and were the top scorers after the summer break. A chasm of over 300 points has opened up since.

Ferrari have introduced multiple major upgrades this year, but it appears none have had the desired effect. With 2025 development now all but concluded, their prospects of winning a race this year are in doubt.

Ted Kravitz says Ferrari ride-height issue has echoes of Mercedes

Charles Leclerc has now accepted Ferrari’s limitations this year. There’s little reason to persist with the SF-25 given that the championship is already out of reach and major regulations are looming.

According to Ted Kravitz, who was speaking on Sky F1’s ‘Paddock Uncut’ show, the mood at Ferrari is ‘solid’ despite the fundamental issues with their car.

The biggest problem is that they have to raise the ride height to prevent excessive plank wear, which, as demonstrated at the Chinese GP, can lead to disqualification. Ferrari have sacrificed downforce for legality.

The Scuderia have been reluctant to explain how exactly they ended up in this position. But for Lewis Hamilton, it has echoes of Mercedes’ troubles earlier in the ground-effect era.

Kravitz said: “The Ferrari mood has felt good, solid, but they are still hamstrung by this issue with the car, which nobody will actually come up and put their hand up and say, ‘We’re going to explain to you in detail exactly what it is’.

“Maybe they don’t have to, but we know that it’s an old Mercedes problem really. They can’t run the car where they want to run it – low down – because it wears out the plank and makes the car illegal.

“And Charles was saying, ‘We can’t fix that’ to me. He said, ‘We can’t fix that before the end of the season because now all our attention resource has to be on 2026’.

Juan Pablo Montoya says Lewis Hamilton can’t talk about his biggest problem at Ferrari

Ferrari lost technical director Enrico Cardile to Aston Martin last year, and this may have been a pivotal moment. Cardile was responsible for the SF-25 concept but he wasn’t the one who brought it to life.

Team principal Fred Vasseur tried to fill the void in the technical department on a temporary basis. While Loic Serra has now taken over, it seems that Ferrari lost their way during the transition period.

Juan Pablo Montoya says Hamilton’s biggest problem is that he ‘hates’ the 2025 Ferrari. It’s completely at odds with his driving style, although he naturally can’t be completely honest about that in an interview.

Ahead of next year, the team will be able to take his preferences into account. But the car won’t be built around him alone, particularly as Leclerc has scored a healthy majority of Ferrari’s points.