BREAKING: Charles Leclerc was taken aback upon discovering the reason behind Hamilton’s lackluster… Read more

Charles Leclerc was taken aback upon discovering the reason behind Hamilton’s lackluster

 

By Hugo Harvey

 

Ferrari’s disastrous Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has taken on a far more troubling dimension following revelations that Lewis Hamilton’s shocking performance collapse was not down to form, confidence, or strategy, but a deep-rooted structural failure within the SF-25 chassis itself. What initially appeared to be a brutal but isolated weekend has now become a moment of reckoning for the Scuderia, with even Charles Leclerc reportedly left stunned by the severity of the underlying issue.

 

Hamilton’s weekend unravelled in dramatic fashion during qualifying, when a violent loss of control sent his Ferrari into the barriers. At the time, speculation centred on driver error, setup compromise, or the notoriously tricky Yas Marina kerbs. Yet internal analysis conducted in the days that followed painted a far more alarming picture. Ferrari engineers identified a structural weakness within the chassis that had progressively worsened over the course of the weekend, critically undermining rear stability and load distribution at high speed.

 

According to sources close to the team, the flaw was not the result of a single impact or setup gamble, but a fundamental integrity issue that left the car operating outside its intended performance window. Under heavy braking and rapid direction changes, the SF-25 was reportedly flexing in ways that made it unpredictable, especially on corner entry. For a driver like Hamilton, who relies on precise feedback and confidence under braking, the consequences were devastating.

 

Charles Leclerc, who has long been attuned to Ferrari’s technical nuances, was said to be taken aback when briefed on the findings. While he managed to extract comparatively stronger performance from his side of the garage, the revelation that the car itself had become structurally compromised shook his confidence in the platform Ferrari had entrusted both drivers with. Insiders suggest Leclerc was particularly unsettled by the implication that the issue could have posed a genuine safety risk.

 

The concern extended beyond Abu Dhabi alone. Ferrari’s post-race investigation indicated that early warning signs of the weakness may have been present in previous rounds, masked by circuit characteristics and setup compensations. Abu Dhabi, with its heavy braking zones and high-speed transitions, simply exposed the problem in its most brutal form. Hamilton, pushing close to the limit in qualifying, became the most visible victim.

 

What makes the situation especially damaging is the timing. The SF-25 was meant to represent Ferrari’s late-season consolidation, a car capable of restoring momentum and trust as the team looked toward the future. Instead, Abu Dhabi has raised uncomfortable questions about Ferrari’s technical validation processes and whether compromises were knowingly accepted in pursuit of short-term performance gains.

 

Hamilton’s reaction in the aftermath has reportedly been one of frustration rather than anger. Those close to the seven-time world champion say he was relieved to learn that his struggles were not rooted in an unexplained loss of form, but deeply concerned that such a flaw made it onto the track at all. Trust between driver and machine is sacred at this level, and once shaken, it is not easily rebuilt.

 

For Ferrari, the implications are profound. Beyond the immediate embarrassment of a high-profile crash and a dismal result, the episode has triggered internal reviews of chassis production, quality control, and simulation correlation. Senior figures within Maranello are understood to be demanding assurances that similar vulnerabilities cannot reappear, particularly as regulatory pressures and performance margins grow ever tighter.

 

Leclerc’s reaction may prove just as significant as Hamilton’s. As Ferrari’s long-term cornerstone, his belief in the team’s technical direction is vital. While he remains publicly loyal, the Abu Dhabi revelations have reportedly fuelled private conversations about reliability, transparency, and the limits of acceptable risk.

 

Ultimately, Abu Dhabi may come to be remembered not as a bad race, but as a warning. Ferrari’s problems were not skin-deep, and Hamilton’s collapse was not an anomaly. It was the symptom of a deeper structural failure—one that has left drivers rattled, engineers exposed, and the Scuderia facing hard questions about how such fragility was allowed to threaten both performance and trust at the very top of Formula 1.

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