During the recent British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was tantalizingly close to his first podium finish with Ferrari. The Brit is still awaiting his first medal for the Scuderia, aside from a single sprint victory in Shanghai. Moreover, the seven-time world champion could have sharpened a number of personal records if he had finished third. However, he just missed out on the podium, partly due to his treacherous SF-25.
Hamilton has an impressive podium streak at his home circuit in Silverstone – he has been on the podium continuously since 2014. Until now. With his fourth place in the recent British GP, that streak has definitively come to an end. The 40-year-old Brit had a brief glimpse of the podium, but eventually had to concede to Nico Hülkenberg‘s Sauber. He finished five seconds behind the German, thereby equalling his best result so far for Ferrari.
Treacherous SF-25
“Yes, it was a tough day for everyone, I think,” Hamilton sighed to the press in Silverstone. “Not the result I was hoping for, but I still scored some points.” In the run-up to the race, Ferrari seemed to be able to compete for the win, but Hamilton was surprised by the changeable weather conditions. He is known as an excellent rain driver, but could hardly distinguish himself with his Ferrari car. “It was the hardest car I’ve ever driven here – under these conditions,” he said disappointedly.
“The car was incredibly difficult to drive,” Hamilton added. “I think I learned a lot today. After all, it’s only the second time I’ve driven this car in the rain. I can’t even explain to you how difficult it is. This is not a car that handles such conditions well. But because I can extract a lot of data from this, it’s important for me to have a conversation with the people designing the car for next year. Because there are elements of this car that could come in handy next season,” he concluded hopefully.
