With some very close times between the drivers, Lewis Hamilton took P5 in the Qualifying session ahead of the F1 Spanish GP. Separated by only +0.499s from pole, the Scuderia Ferrari driver achieved one of his best qualifying results so far this season, second to Monaco’s fourth place. Moreover, this result puts Hamilton in a great position for Sunday’s Race at the Barcelona-Catalunya track, a circuit which gives drivers plenty of overtaking opportunities.
Looking over Lewis Hamilton’s race weekend, the Briton kept himself close to the top 10 throughout the Free Practice sessions. His teammate at Scuderia Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, had similar results as he claimed P7. This can only be further encouragement for Hamilton in the car’s potential, especially after the maiden season he has had. The 7-time world champion remains close to Leclerc in the standings. Occupying the 6th position, at only a 16-point deficit from the Monegasque, Hamilton will surely chase a podium.
The sudden change to the SF-25
During all the Free Practice sessions, Lewis Hamilton has been quite vocal about his frustrations with the car. These issues did not just appear overnight for the Ferrari driver, who had problems with the drivability of the SF-25 since the beginning of the 2025 season. Yet, after this incredible recovery from Hamilton just in time for the F1 Spanish GP, he reflected on the weird phenomenon with his Ferrari:
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say I was frustrated yesterday, I was just confused because we didn’t change anything in the car, and then all of a sudden we lost some downforce on the floor, and there was like a massive shift in balance, and we didn’t do anything.
“And so I’d gone into Q2 hoping for the same car, and it wasn’t the same car. So that was a bit confusing for us, and we discovered it afterwards, and we tried to get the car to get into Q3. We have clearly improved qualifying, which is great, but we’ve got to keep going. We clearly don’t have the pace in the cars at the moment.”
Furthermore, the Briton shared some important insight into the trouble he dealt with in Q3. Hamilton specified that his steering was the issue which caused him a hard time:
“It wasn’t the gearbox, it was the steering, one of the paddle shift buttons. So that was a big miss.”
Reviewing the team’s decisions and technical regulations
Lewis Hamilton gave his fans watching the F1 Spanish GP Qualifying a scare when he sat in the garage at the end of Q2. He considered that decision “a good call for the team“. Nonetheless, he explained further about the decision not to do a second lap as Ferrari trusted their simulation tools.
“I think it was just so close, and we were from… In Q1, it was like half a tenth from 6th to 11th, but in this session it was 1:12.4? or something like that, and the next were 1:12.9?. But they weren’t concerned, so I sat there. Definitely sitting there like: ‘Oh, God.”
The 7-time world champion had some interesting things to say about the new front wings, following the FIA’s new technical regulations. He admitted to noticing a slight change in the balance. However, the Briton bluntly referred to them as a “waste of money“:
“The balance is definitely not as nice as what we had before. It hasn’t made any, any else [other differences]. What a waste of money.
“Just wasted everyone’s money. It’s literally changed nothing. Everyone’s wings still bend, it’s just half the bending, and everyone’s had to make new wings and spend more money to make these. It just doesn’t make sense. But it is what it is, and we just continue on.”
Similarly to his previous statement, Hamilton explained his experience with the changes in the simulator. Yet, even there, he could only notice a slight difference:
“No, I wasn’t expecting this. I drove it on the simulator, and it’s pretty much exactly the same. A little bit more understeering than high speed. But, yeah.”
Future goals for the rest of 2025
While this good result for the F1 Spanish GP comes quite reassuring for Hamilton and the team, he could not give much information on any upcoming upgrades. Yet, Lewis Hamilton remains optimistic. He will focus more on learning the ropes this year. But, the Briton is hopeful that 2026 can bring some good to the Scuderia Ferrari.
“I don’t know. If I’m honest, I don’t know what our goals will be upcoming. We haven’t had an upgrade for quite some time. We’ll keep pushing with what we have. But, before too soon, I’ll be just saying there’s progress on next year.
“So, building foundation this year, learning about the tools, in terms of structure, in terms of how our process is, just learning those. So then, when we arrive next year with the car that we really want, we’re ready.”
The game plan for Sunday
As far as his target for Sunday’s race, Hamilton said he will be focused more on regaining a place on that podium.
“My target is to try and get to the podium. I haven’t been on a podium for a long time.”
Additionally, the Ferrari driver emphasised the need for a good start tomorrow. He also mentioned his old teammate when talking about the importance a start can make. Besides this, Hamilton explained how his focus will switch to tyre management and further adapting to the Ferrari car:
“Long way down to turn one. We saw the start George got last year. So, I will be trying my best to try and get a good start. And then otherwise, after that, it’s just about managing the tyres here, which is challenging. But, you know, every weekend I’m coming to the circuit for the first time with the team, and the car is so much different to what I drove the previous few years.
“So, through the weekend, I’m having to adapt this new driving style, which is horrible. It’s not an enjoyable driving style, but I’m adapting to get to these circuits each time I come. I love that it’s a first, each weekend.”
Possible problems during the race
As it is well known, the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit can be quite detrimental when it comes to tyres. Lewis Hamilton acknowledged this issue ahead of the F1 Spanish GP. Despite the Ferrari’s track record with tyre degradation, the Briton seemed quite confident. Hamilton even let on the fact that some improvements were felt during last week’s race:
“Yeah. The previous races were all sorts of trouble. But the last two races, we thought maybe Monaco, we didn’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but Monaco is an improvement. We’re hoping to have the same effect here. So, it’s good.”
McLaren is a strong contender for the championship this season. With both of its drivers first on the starting line, Hamilton looked over the pace they showed so far. The 7-time world champion owned up to the struggle it takes just to cut a tenth in terms of overall performance:
“It’s an amazing job they’ve done. And, I mean, for me it’s half a second, but they’re three tenths clear, probably to the guys behind, just over three tenths, I think it is. It’s not an insurmountable amount that you could catch up.
“But, for example, a lot of work, months went into developing and getting like a tenth of performance. So, I don’t know if we have, we don’t have half a second coming, that’s for sure, which is what we need to topple in. But never say never.”
