Former System 1 race engineer Rob Smedley has supplied an evidence as to why Lewis Hamilton has been struggling at Ferrari this yr.
Hamilton’s blockbuster transfer to Ferrari has thus far didn’t yield the specified outcomes, with the seven-time world champion struggling to get the perfect out of the SF-25.
Whereas the automotive itself hasn’t been very aggressive, Hamilton has persistently trailed behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, scoring 41 factors to the Monegasque’s whole of 53.
This has led the Briton to chop a dejected determine on the finish of grand prix weekends, with a tricky outing in Jeddah prompting him to say there is no such thing as a repair in sight for his issues.
Smedley, who labored at Ferrari between 2004 and ‘13, believes the squad’s 2025 F1 contender is simply too free on the rear, which performs in opposition to Hamilton’s driving fashion.
He believes there is no such thing as a “magic bullet” to Ferrari’s troubles in 2025, with the Prancing Horse merely missing efficiency to take the battle to the opposite frontrunning squads.
“The automotive is just not that straightforward to drive,” he stated on the F1 Nation podcast. “It actually does not swimsuit Lewis’ driving fashion. Charles can get a bit extra on prime of it over a single timed lap.
“When you might have a high-speed turn-in in a medium-high velocity nook, you want a very strong rear. We now have seen prior to now that when Lewis does not have that [rear end stability] that he can lean on, [he struggles].
“If the automotive is a bit tail-happy he’s sad and he cannot get the perfect out of it. That is simply his driving fashion.
“I do assume that there’s only a common lack of efficiency. It is going to be tiny tiny margins. It won’t be one factor that may do this automotive that all of the sudden turns into the silver bullet.
“There can be only a sequence of issues they have to do. There are on this place in the intervening time. They’re the place they’re.
“That is the place you see their true mettle. Can they work their method out of it? Can they discover extra efficiency? If they’ll discover extra common efficiency, each qualifying and the race – you might be speaking about two-three tenths – it is going to put them in a considerably stronger place. They’re the margins that they acquired to seek out now.”
Rob Smedley’s verdict on Lewis Hamilton radio messages
The Miami GP was significantly troublesome for Ferrari, as not solely it lagged behind Williams, nevertheless it was additionally embroiled in a staff order saga that continued to make headlines for days to come back.
Hamilton requested the staff to let him by previous Leclerc as he was on the quicker medium tyre at that stage.
Ferrari took time to guage the scenario and resolve the perfect plan of action, prompting a half-witted comment from its new star signing.
Ferrari did ultimately subject directions to Leclerc to present method to Hamilton, however by then the latter’s tyres have been already previous their prime, forcing the Maranello squad to swap them once more.
Felipe Massa’s former race engineer Smedley has needed to cope with staff orders earlier than, together with his message “Fernando [Alonso] is quicker than you” on the 2010 German GP turning into part of the F1 folklore.
Whereas he wasn’t vital of Ferrari taking its time to resolve whether or not to subject staff orders or not, he does consider the staff ought to put together itself for related conditions sooner or later.
“I believe lots has been manufactured from it. There are two sides to this. To begin with, it is actually good clickbait and I’ve been in that scenario so many occasions when the motive force is asking for one thing they really feel is totally apparent, however there’s a number of cognitive operate that wants to enter making that call.
“If you concentrate on it, you take heed to it, it [the decision-making process] felt like a very long time, [but] Fred [Vasseur] stated it was only a lap and a half they have been making that call.
“On the flip aspect, they knew that that they had two drivers on contra methods, that did not occur exterior their management.
“You’d then argue that for the longer term – and I am positive everybody within the staff would agree with that – simply be barely higher ready so when one driver comes behind the opposite on a special technique, what you do not need to do is maintain them up and spoil the possibility of that technique working.”
