Hamilton admitted he didn’t “know what to say” in his Sky Sports F1 interview after last Sunday’s race as he reflected on what he described as “terrible” afternoon at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which saw him finish sixth.
Having targeted the first podium of his Ferrari career after qualifying in a promising joint-season best of fifth, Hamilton overtook former Mercedes team-mate George Russell at the start but soon struggled with a lack of grip from his car.
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He was asked by Ferrari to let team-mate Charles Leclerc through in the first stint, was undercut by Russell at the second round of stops, and then was overtaken by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg after a late Safety Car had closed the pack up.
And Sky Sports F1 pundit Rosberg said after seeing Hamilton’s post-race interview: “It’s hard to watch.
“Sunday was a horrible day for him because he was just slow out there, which is very unusual,
“Yes, sometimes he’s been a little bit off in qualifying but in races he’s usually really awesome and the race was shockingly bad.
“He doesn’t have answers either. Was there damage on the floor? These floors are so sensitive and there can always be a bit there and you lose a lot of time. Or what was going on?
“When you don’t have any answers, it’s really tough as a driver and then you see your team-mate race their way to third place on the podium. In light of the whole season he’s had so far, it’s a very dark situation.”
Although Hamilton suggested his race-day struggles in Spain were “probably just me”, Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur did reveal afterwards that “we had an issue on the car the last stint, before the Safety Car”. The Frenchman did not elaborate on what the issue on the SF-25 was, adding that “we’ll look into it”.
Hamilton had said to engineer Riccardo Adami over team radio at the end of the race: “There’s something wrong with this car, mate. It’s the worst it’s ever been.”
‘There’s something missing’ – Rosberg’s verdict on Hamilton’s start at Ferrari
With Ferrari’s hopes of mounting a challenge for both world championships quickly not materialising this season amid their 17-year title drought, Hamilton is sixth in the Drivers’ Championship after nine races – 23 behind fifth-placed team-mate Leclerc, who claimed his second successive podium in Spain.
Last Saturday was just the second time in nine attempts that Hamilton had outqualified Leclerc for a Grand Prix, while he has still only beaten the Monegasque once in a full race.
And Rosberg, a childhood friend of Hamilton’s in karting turned Mercedes team-mate and ultimately fierce title rival, said: “It’s been a difficult start so far, a continuation of the form he had last year which was the first time in his career he had a dip in form for the whole season.
“George Russell beat him last year and Leclerc has taken over from Russell, always a bit ahead of Lewis, who hasn’t found his way yet.
“There’s something missing. He’s not connecting with the car yet and still a bit on the backfoot but the car is a handful.
“Lewis’ strengths in this stage of his career is his race pace, which we saw in Imola when he started 12th and finished fourth with blistering pace. It was amazing to watch.
“But, he’s 40 and at some point, it’s all about the speed of processing in our brains, the reaction time in qualifying.
“At some point you will get ever so slightly slower and it will happen to Lewis sooner rather than later.”
The 2025 Formula 1 season pauses for breath after the European triple-header before resuming live on Sky Sports F1 with the Canadian Grand Prix from June 13-15. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.
