The Car was trickier to Drive: Hamilton was left with no… Read more

Sprint Winner Hamilton Left Frustrated After Set-up Changes Leave Him ‘On a Knife Edge’ in Chinese GP Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton expressed frustration after finishing fifth in Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, describing his Ferrari as “on a knife edge” following set-up changes that left him unable to replicate his standout performance from the Sprint race.

Hamilton had a strong start to the Shanghai race weekend by claiming pole position in Sprint Qualifying on Friday. The seven-time World Champion then converted that success into a commanding victory in Saturday’s 100-kilometre Sprint race. However, as the event transitioned into full Qualifying for Sunday’s main race, Hamilton’s momentum faded, with the Ferrari driver struggling to secure a competitive lap time. He ultimately qualified fifth, well below his expectations.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Hamilton attributed the drop in performance to adjustments made to his SF-25 between the Sprint and full Qualifying. “We started really optimistic, naturally,” he explained. “But then we made just a couple of small changes, tweaks to the car, and it really put the car on a knife edge.”

Hamilton also pointed to changing weather conditions, particularly an increase in wind speed, as a contributing factor to the difficulties he experienced. “The wind picked up a little bit as well, so the car was trickier to drive, and it was harder to put laps together,” he added.

When asked what changes he felt were necessary to improve the performance of Ferrari’s 2025 challenger, Hamilton explained that he was not looking for one specific fix but a more balanced car overall. “Not one particular thing,” he said. “You want a car that’s balanced, so at the moment from one corner to the next, the car has a different balance. You want a car that has a similar balance everywhere.”

He continued, “We made the change, and then all of a sudden the high-speed was over-balanced. You just want a car you can rely on; when you attack the corners, you know it’s going to stay with you instead of lock up and go on or snap into oversteer. When it’s unpredictable, then you’ve got no hope.”

While Hamilton managed to secure fifth place in Qualifying, his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc was not far behind in sixth. The Monegasque driver acknowledged that he had been playing catch-up with Hamilton all weekend but felt he had extracted the most from the car during Qualifying.

“It felt like it, at least,” Leclerc responded when asked if sixth place was the best he could have achieved. “Lewis did still a better job than I did, but I felt like I maximised on my side. I don’t think there was anything more.”

Leclerc was philosophical about finishing just behind Hamilton, stressing the importance of teamwork. “Being in front of Lewis or being behind, that doesn’t really matter, because as a team we start next to each other,” he said.

The Ferrari driver emphasized that the team had maximized the car’s potential but expressed concern about the sudden drop in pace compared to earlier in the weekend. “As a team, I think we maximised the potential of the car, but the most important thing is that we understand where the potential of the car has gone because from this morning [in the Sprint], or from Sprint Qualifying, we were much faster compared to the others.”

Leclerc also acknowledged that while they had been on par with most competitors in Sprint Qualifying, full Qualifying exposed some of Ferrari’s weaknesses. “I think yesterday maybe Lando [Norris] would have been a step ahead if he had finished his lap, but with other people we were more or less in line. Today, even though it’s tight, we seem to be a bit more on the back foot,” Leclerc reflected.

Both Ferrari drivers will be looking to regroup ahead of Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, with hopes of converting their second-row starting positions into a stronger race result.