Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari worry backed by stark Charles Leclerc admission

Charles Leclerc has backed up the major worry expressed by Lewis Hamilton about the competitiveness of their Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc was fourth at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix, with Hamilton an even more lacklustre seventh.

Hamilton claimed he was losing a tenth per lap due to a problem which Ferrari have identified, and intend to fix.

Ride height issues on the Ferrari are the talk of the F1 paddock after the first three grands prix of the Hamilton era.

Teammate Leclerc also emerged unhappily from Japan.

“Honestly, there wasn’t anything more in the car,” Leclerc told Sky Sports.

“As a team we did well with strategy, with balance, with optimising our result.

“But I will say that it’s even more disappointing when you do everything perfectly, then you finish P4, two or three tenths off, minimum, compared to the guys in front, every lap.

“The first stint wasn’t too bad but then we lost performance.

“The positive is that we maximised our weekend. The negative is that the pace is just not there.”

Solutions to Ferrari problem?

Although a sprint race win in China offered a first highlight to Hamilton’s time at Ferrari, the start of 2025 has been mixed for him.

Ferrari suffered their first-ever double-DQ in China, too, with both cars ruled out for different reasons.

The rear of their car is reportedly the major flaw.

Hamilton confirmed that Ferrari are aware of a problem but couldn’t offer a timescale on a solution.

F1 heads to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in the next two weeks.

Leclerc, at least, hopes his own setup tweaks are giving him a shot at overcoming his car’s limitation.

“On Friday I went in a very specific direction for my driving style, I felt it would help me maximise my car, more often than not,” Leclerc explained.

“But it still needs to be confirmed on different weekends.

“I am looking forward to Bahrain, to see if that direction works out for me.

“If it does, I am confident that for the rest of the year it is looking good, that I will be able to maximise this car.

“If that means P4? Not great.

“I hope more performance is coming. We should have a few things coming soon.”