Scuderia Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton labelled his SF-25 as “the most difficult car I’ve driven” in wet conditions, though he does have an idea of how to fix it.
Hamilton will bring his ideas to the Ferrari crew in charge of developing the team’s F1 2026 challenger in an effort to find more stability.
Lewis Hamilton lists ideal changes to SF-25 after British Grand Prix
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Lewis Hamilton is something of a master of the Silverstone Circuit, which meant expectations were high heading into his first-ever British Grand Prix with Scuderia Ferrari.
Unfortunately, race day brought with it rain and plenty of chaos, which saw Hamilton have to content himself with a fourth-place finishing position. According to the seven-time World Champion, he found his SF-25 to be “the most difficult car I’ve ever driven in these conditions.”
That was evident; after his final pit stop, Hamilton lost control of his SF-25. Had he not done so, he may have been able to contend for a podium. But fourth, while not a poor finish, is still not what he’d been hoping for.
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For as frustrating as the race was, Hamilton did note that it was hugely instructional, and that he learned a lot about what he wants out of his Ferraris moving forward.
More than anything, he’s hoping to have “a consistent balance” throughout the rest of the season. But his list of ideal specifications runs long: “A car that turns at low speed. Just a more stable car.”
That stability has been a massive point of frustration for both Hamilton and his team-mate Charles Leclerc; without confidence in putting down the power, both drivers are prevented from attacking as they otherwise might.
Still, after an update in Austria, there’s hope for Ferrari.
“I think we were looking great through this weekend,” Hamilton admitted.
“In practice, we were always right up there. Still weren’t able to fully extract everything in quali and then the race is a little bit harder, so that’s where I want to get stronger.”
He reiterated that he’s “not driving that terribly” but that he’s hoping to continue to improve before the season is out.
“I was put under a lot of pressure. I had a chance on Lando into Turn 15, but they were just perfect,” Hamilton said, explaining his race.
“After that, I struggled to keep up. The tyres dropped off massively. The car was unbelievably tricky to drive. I think ultimately, I learned a lot today. There’s lots to take from the day.
“It’s only my second time driving in the wet in this car. I can’t even express to you how hard it is. It’s not a car that likes those conditions.
“But as I said, having lots of data to take from this. For me, I might just sit down with the people that are designing the car for next year because there’s elements of this car that can go into the following year.”
Thankfully, Charles Leclerc is on the same quest for improvement.
Asked what he was hoping future Ferrari upgrades would bring, he replied, “Performance, eventually. That’s the performance that we need.
“We’ve got some upgrades coming which will cure some particular weaknesses of the car, which I think will help us in some phases of the corner.
“I won’t go too much into detail, but again, I think there are some weaknesses; we’ve identified them, and we’ll try and fix them as soon as possible.”
Regarding the upgrades, Leclerc said that “it’s still early days, but we’ll see how it goes. It’s still two weeks.
“I know that everybody’s pushing very hard production-wise, to try and give us upgrades as soon as possible. If they are here, I hope it can help us to do a significant step.”
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