Following a challenging weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton disclosed that Ferrari has identified a performance discrepancy in his car compared to his teammate, Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton started eighth and finished seventh in Sunday`s race, having overtaken Racing Bulls` Isack Hadjar early on. His race was largely isolated.
Leclerc, in contrast, qualified and finished fourth, outperforming Hamilton by three tenths in qualifying and finishing 13 seconds ahead of him in the race.
“I did the best I could today. My car genuinely lacked performance compared to those ahead,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
“We`ve discovered an element on the car that has been underperforming for the past three races. I hope that once this is resolved, I will start achieving better results. This issue is costing me just over a tenth of a second per lap. I`m optimistic it will be fixed by the next race.”
Ferrari is currently running their cars with a higher ride height than desired after both Hamilton and Leclerc faced disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton was disqualified due to excessive wear on the plank, and Leclerc for his car being underweight.
Modern F1 cars are designed to run as low as possible to maximize downforce and performance.
However, running too low increases the risk of plank wear and potential disqualification. It remains unclear if this is related to the underperforming component Hamilton mentioned.
“The team is aware of the issue but the cause is unknown. Hopefully, when a new component is introduced, it will be resolved and performance will be equal on both cars,” he stated.
Hamilton added, “I`m relatively satisfied with my race pace considering the circumstances. Overall, the team performed well and did a good job. We move forward and aim for improvement.”
Speaking to written media, Hamilton further commented, “I sincerely hope for positive changes in the next race. Over the first three races, there has been a slight difference in performance between the two sides of the garage regarding a specific car element.”
“On my side, something is not performing as expected. It`s beneficial to have identified this, and given the situation, this was the best possible result.”
Leclerc: Driving Style Adjustment for Car Optimization
Ferrari is currently 76 points behind McLaren in the Constructors` Championship after three race weekends.
Despite initial optimism following their 2024 performance, Leclerc expressed disappointment with the gap to competitors. However, he suggested that adjustments to his driving style are contributing to his stronger performance compared to Hamilton.
“There was no more performance available in the car,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1.
“As a team, we executed well in terms of balance and strategy to maximize the result. However, it`s still disappointing to finish P4 when we perform perfectly but are still significantly slower than the leaders.”
“The initial stint was reasonable, but we experienced a performance drop-off later. On the positive side, we maximized our potential this weekend, but negatively, our pace is simply lacking.”
“I`ve adopted a specific driving style that I believe will help me consistently extract the most from the car. This needs further validation in Bahrain to confirm its effectiveness.”
“If it proves successful, I`m optimistic about maximizing the car`s potential for the remainder of the year. However, if that still results in P4 finishes, it`s not ideal. I hope further performance upgrades are forthcoming, and we anticipate some developments soon.”
Formula 1 continues its season in Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend on April 11-13.
