Lewis Hamilton`s Saturday at the Miami Grand Prix perfectly mirrored the unpredictable start to his Ferrari career, as the joy of a strong Sprint finish quickly gave way to the disappointment of an early qualifying exit.
After his high-profile move to the Italian team following 12 years at Mercedes, Hamilton appeared to find his stride by securing pole position and winning the Sprint at the season`s second event in China back in late March.
However, the following day in Shanghai, he was disqualified from the main race due to a technical irregularity. In the subsequent three rounds, his best qualifying result was seventh and his best race finish was fifth, consistently trailing his team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Earlier on Saturday in Miami, the Sprint format again offered a moment of respite for the seven-time world champion. A timely decision to switch from intermediate to slick tyres on the drying track allowed him to climb from sixth place to finish third behind the McLarens.
Although the result only secured him six points, which didn`t change his seventh position in the Drivers` Championship standings, Hamilton couldn`t hide his satisfaction after a rare positive outcome.
`Oh man, I`m so happy with that,` Hamilton told the crowd immediately after the Sprint. `You know, it`s been a tough year so far.`
While Hamilton was pleased with the result, he acknowledged that it was largely due to a well-timed strategic gamble rather than genuine pace.
He explained: `It was my call [to pit]. But it was prompted by the fact I was struggling so much on the intermediates.
`I was losing pace and I couldn`t keep up with the guys ahead. The tyres had grained front and rear and I was just a passenger at this point.
`I was seeing the dry line, and I thought `we have to do something otherwise I will lose more places`.`
`I wish I did it a lap before but happy I made it. The car felt great after that and to get third from seventh is good work.`
Hamilton didn`t have his team-mate Leclerc to measure himself against in the Sprint, as Leclerc crashed on his way to the grid, caught out by heavy rain.
The chaotic nature of the Sprint and Leclerc`s absence made it difficult to predict Ferrari`s prospects for the main Grand Prix qualifying session.
While Hamilton wasn`t overly optimistic after the Sprint, what followed in qualifying was arguably the worst-case scenario.
The 40-year-old had to fight just to get through Q1, using an extra set of fresh soft tyres in the final moments to avoid elimination after a significant lock-up ruined his first attempt.
Given the struggles in Q1, it wasn`t surprising when a poor second run in Q2, coupled with another lock-up at the same corner (Turn 17), resulted in elimination and a disappointing P12 starting position.
Hamilton tried to remain optimistic but admitted that Ferrari is struggling to understand the issues as they continue to fall significantly short of their pre-season expectations of being title contenders.
`We will keep trying. We are only six races in but we are struggling big time,` Hamilton said.
`We are trying our hardest not to make big set-up changes but no matter what we do it`s so inconsistent every time we go out.
`We have problems with brakes, problems with this instability that we are struggling with and we are generally not quick enough. Just to get through to Q3 is tough for us.`
`Once you are on the back foot, it`s hard to pick up the points. Tomorrow will be hard work but we will try again. It`s the same thing for me, I`m used to it but I will keep trying.`
`And I will be back at the factory next week and just keep going.`
Ferrari`s concerns were amplified by Leclerc`s performance. Although he had shown signs of adapting to the SF-25 in previous rounds with consecutive fourth-place finishes and a podium in Saudi Arabia, the Monegasque driver was disheartened by the car`s performance on Friday and confirmed after qualifying eighth that he felt it was performing at its worst all season.
`There was something strange in qualifying, something off. I was completely out of the window of the car for some reason,` Leclerc stated.
`I started Q1 and we had to change the car a lot to get to where I wanted in Q3, which is very unusual but it never felt good and the performance of the car has been very bad.
`The feeling is not great. But it`s the way it is. It`s just frustrating because when you do your best and the best is P8, with a Ferrari it hurts and the two Williams in front of us, I didn`t do any mistakes… we are just not fast enough.`
When asked if it was his worst experience of the season, Leclerc replied: `Yes. It`s also a track that`s different than other tracks. There`s a lot of low speed corners and at the moment we are paying the price in those corners.`
Ferrari`s best hope for success in Sunday`s race seems to rely on the possibility of rain causing further disruptions, but even that might not be enough to overcome their current difficulties.
It appears highly likely that the team will arrive at Imola for the first of their two home races in two weeks under significant pressure to reverse what has been a challenging start to the 2025 season.
