06/06/2025 12:40
Lewis Hamilton has argued McLaren's current pace advantage in F1 is
not "insurmountable", but insists it is unlikely Ferrari will be
able to close the gap. The British driver joined the Scuderia over
the winter with hopes of battling at the sharp end of the grid
against his former team. Last season, Ferrari came tantalisingly
close to ending its title drought, which has been ongoing since
taking the 2008 constructors' crown - the year the 40-year-old
claimed his first drivers' championship, at McLaren. Ultimately
coming up 14 points short of the Woking squad in an Abu Dhabi
showdown, the Prancing Horse had high expectations for 2025.
However, the SF-25 has so far been unable to deliver, and it does
not appear that it will be a car capable of fighting for
championship honours at any point this season. This has been
compounded by a difficult start to life at the Italian squad for
Hamilton, who has found himself only able to contend for consistent
points finishes, aside from stronger results in sprints. Hamilton
outlines topple target Conversely, McLaren has built on its success
from last year, leading the charge this campaign across both title
fights. Max Verstappen, in third, is 49 points behind Oscar Piastri
in the championship standings, with Lando Norris in between, and
McLaren holds a significant advantage - 197 points - over Ferrari
in second in the constructors' title fight. "It's an amazing job
they've done," the seven-time F1 drivers' champion told the media,
including RacingNews365 , when reflecting on the papaya team. "For
me, it's half a second, but they're three-tenths clear, probably,
to the guys behind. Just over three tenths, I think it is."
Nonetheless, Hamilton does not believe the current deficit between
the MCL39 and rival cars can be eradicated, even if Ferrari does
not have a big enough reduction in lap time coming down the
pipeline. "It's not an insurmountable amount that you could catch
up," he explained. "But, for example, a lot of work went in...
months went into developing and getting a tenth [of a second] of
performance. "So I don't know if we have... we don't have half a
second coming, that's for sure, which is what you'll need to topple
them. But never say never."
