Possible Reasons for Hamilton's Ferrari Deficit: New Floor Delayed?
Apr.8 - Lewis Hamilton says he suspects his car is carrying a flaw that is not also present on the sister Ferrari raced by Charles Leclerc.
It is well known that both Ferrari drivers are keen to get a floor upgrade up and running as soon as possible, to rectify an issue with the current specification of the 2025 machine.
"The floor is ready for Bahrain," La Gazzetta dello Sport reports, "but (Frederic) Vasseur and (Loic) Serra would like to wait."
They are reportedly arguing behind the scenes that the initial goal should be to fully understand the current specification. "The decision will be made by Thursday," reported technical editor Paolo Filisetti.
Hamilton, however, is suggesting that his pace deficit to Leclerc at present is a different issue. "I'm losing a little over a tenth per lap with this problem," said the seven time world champion.
"In the first three races there has been a small deficit between both sides of the garage in one element of the car," Hamilton added. "It's good at least to know, even though the team doesn't know why it's happening.
"When a new component arrives, hopefully it'll disappear and it'll be the same on both cars," the 40-year-old said.
Former F1 driver Christijan Albers says the performance gap between Hamilton and Leclerc has been surprising so far. "Hamilton drove a hopeless race," he told De Telegraaf after the Japanese GP.
"I expected much more from him."
Team boss Vasseur thinks the discrepancy between Hamilton and Leclerc is more about setup. "The balance, therefore, is related to their (setup) decisions," he said.
"We're continuing to explore the new car and are taking different approaches to adapt to the drivers. I think the situation will be different in Bahrain because we were there for three days last month."
The Italian press, however, is already worried about the prospect for the 2025 world championship.
"Barcelona is the watershed weekend," La Repubblica newspaper declared. "Either we fight for the win there or we just develop the car for 2026."
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No it's more about driving ability. Leclerc is a fast qualifier and HAM at his age had lost a little bit. Russell out qualified him.
I predicted it would be like this for HAM in a new car , and even if he gets more used to the car. He had lost a bit of his driving ability, age catches up with everyone.
As for him saying he will be here till he's 50, that won't happen unless a lower team wants him at that age.
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