26/04/2025 07:25
Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has warned that
Lewis Hamilton risks facing a "backwards race" if his confidence is
starting to wane at Ferrari. It has been a challenging start to
life with the Maranello-based team for Hamilton, who has
consistently been slower than Charles Leclerc. Adjusting to the
SF-25 has taken longer for the seven-time F1 champion than many
expected. Crucially, there was a six-tenths of a second deficit to
Leclerc in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Following
Hamilton's surprise China sprint pole and win, it was assumed he
would build on that platform, only for the opposite to occur. The
differences between the SF-25 and what Hamilton was accustomed to
at Mercedes have proven difficult to overcome, creating a
significant loss of lap time. Steiner is becoming concerned by the
40-year-old's lack of speed, although he is confident he will work
hard to resolve the issues. When asked if Hamilton's pace
difference to Leclerc was becoming a concern, Steiner told the Red
Flags podcast: "It is slowly becoming a concern. "I'm more
concerned about what he thinks when he's asking about where he
loses time. The engineer can tell you where you're losing time, but
for sure, he cannot make you understand why you're losing it.
That's down to you. "And the worst thing would be if Lewis is
losing his confidence, because then it will be a backwards race. It
is a concern, in my opinion. "They will work on it, and Lewis will
be the first one to work on it. How they get out [of it], I have no
idea."
