‘Not what the team deserves:’ Lewis Hamilton continues to struggle for Ferrari

Photo Credit: Jakub Porzycki/Getty Images

There was a lot of excitement on the Formula 1 grid last season when Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Scuderia Ferrari was announced, ending a decade-plus stay at Mercedes. Hamilton was poised to help teammate Charles Leclerc as Ferrari searched for its first World Constructors’ Championship since 2008. 13 races into Hamilton’s first season with the most successful F1 team in the sport’s history, things haven’t gone to plan.

“Sorry about this weekend guys, losing you points,” said Lewis Hamilton on his team radio after Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix. “I’ll work harder to come back stronger at the next race. Great job on the strategy and pit stops.”

For the most part, it was a weekend to forget for Hamilton.

A five-time winner of the Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton came into the weekend with an upgrade package on his car after a two-week race break. The team developed a new rear suspension that aimed to make the car easier to drive and help it reach its full potential. Both drivers have complained that this year’s car is hard to operate.

However, Hamilton noted before the weekend that it would take a few races to get accustomed to the new rear suspension, and that introducing it during a sprint race weekend would make it harder to adjust due to the limited practice sessions.

Hamilton was right, and it was a struggle from the first practice session on Friday to the checkered flag on Sunday. Hamilton had the seventh fastest lap time in the only practice session of the weekend, finishing more than a second off the fastest lap set by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. At a typical Grand Prix, there are usually three practice sessions, but when a sprint race is held, there is only one.

In Sprint Qualifying One, Hamilton was in the drop zone, in danger of being eliminated. With no time left on the clock, Hamilton was setting a lap time that wasn’t all that impressive, but would have seen him advance to SQ2. Right before the final turn, Hamilton locked the rear of his car and spun out, ending his final attempt and eliminating him in SQ1.

“Not great, not great,” A frustrated Hamilton said when referring to his car’s performance after SQ1. “There’s not really a lot to say. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.”

Tomorrow came, and it wasn’t better for the 40-year-old. Hamilton started 18th on the grid for the sprint and only moved up three places by the final lap, finishing with no points. Qualifying for the race would occur later on Saturday and would be equally as painful for Hamilton as his one sprint qualifying session.

Once again, Hamilton would find himself in the drop zone on his final lap of the first qualifying session. As drivers kept improving their lap times, Hamilton kept sliding down the board. A solid lap would see Hamilton jump to seventh place, easily advancing to Q2, but not so fast. Hamilton’s car went fully off the track at Turn 4, leading to Race Control deleting his lap time due to a track limits violation, eliminating Hamilton from Q1.

It’s incredibly painful,” Hamilton said after qualifying. “It’s turning out to be a pretty bad weekend so far.

"We have had upgrades, but I think that’s probably it for the year, and the focus is now on next year’s car. This season has been a tricky one.”

On Sunday, Hamilton started the Grand Prix from the pit lane after Ferrari replaced his car’s power unit.

After a lengthy delay to wait out a rainstorm, the race started under wet conditions. Using his wet-weather driving skills and a well-timed pit stop, Hamilton was able to finish in seventh after starting in 18th. Hamilton did struggle once the track dried as he spent the second half of his race chasing down Williams’ Alex Albon for sixth place. Hamilton got close to passing Albon on multiple occasions, but lacked tire grip and straight-line speed at the end of the race.

"I think everyone in the team worked so hard," Hamilton said. "We obviously had these upgrades. Everyone back in the factory worked so hard. And then when you come and put a performance like I had in these past two days, it's tough because that's not what the team deserves.

"It wasn't a case of necessarily coming in and not being in the right mind through the weekend. There were a few factors that did affect, particularly on the Friday. Saturday it was just me. But I recovered today. So I got some points. We outscored Mercedes on points, which is great. Charles did a great job. Clearly the car is improving because Charles was able to hold on to another podium. So I'm still going to work hard next week.”

The weekend wasn’t all bad for Hamilton, even though he may disagree. The seven-time World Champion was voted Driver of the Day by F1 fans and picked up six valuable points for Ferrari.

We’ve seen flashes from the 40-year-old in his lone season with Ferrari. To go along with his Driver of the Day performance on Sunday, Hamilton qualified first and won the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Race during just his second race weekend with his new team. He added a third-place podium finish at the Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race.

However, Hamilton has yet to stand on the podium or win a Grand Prix for Ferrari. Hamilton’s best qualifying result and race finish was fourth place. He was even disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix, the same weekend he won the sprint race, for a technical regulations violation. Despite not finishing outside the points in all races but the one he was disqualified from, Hamilton, Ferrari, and F1 fans expected much more from one of the best drivers the sport has ever seen.

Hamilton’s last few races could be a sign of hope for the Briton. Before his seventh-place finish in Belgium, Hamilton finished fourth in back-to-back races and has not finished below sixth place since the Miami Grand Prix on May 4. Feeling more comfortable with the car’s new upgrades after three days of driving, Hamilton will have one last chance at the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 3 to build momentum for the second half of his season before the sport’s month-long summer break in August.

"Not the result that I want this weekend, and definitely a weekend to forget, but positives to take from the car today,” Hamilton said. “[The] team did a great job as they always do throughout the weekend and they did a great job with the strategy, so big thanks to them and I'll try and do a better job for them next weekend."