Lewis Hamilton makes worrying ‘I struggled’ admission during final Azerbaijan GP radio message

Ferrari have a lot of work to do in the coming months to make sure they’re more competitive next season.

The upcoming Formula 1 regulation changes couldn’t come at a better time for Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari at the beginning of this season in the hope of winning an eighth drivers’ championship.

Despite being second in the constructors’ championship, Ferrari haven’t won a Grand Prix in 2025, and Hamilton currently holds the record for most starts for Ferrari without a podium.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix initially looked promising for Fred Vasseur’s team, with Hamilton topping FP2 in Baku and demonstrating good one-lap and long run pace.

Unfortunately, Hamilton fell at the second hurdle in qualifying, failing to progress to the top 10 shootout and having to salvage a result from 12th on the grid.

He climbed to P8, with some help from Charles Leclerc, who let him through and then failed to re-take the position on the final lap.

But Hamilton’s complaints after the race only further highlight exactly what’s going wrong at Ferrari this season.

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Lewis Hamilton ‘struggled’ with the rear of his Ferrari throughout the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

On lap six, Hamilton’s race engineer Riccardo Adami said to Hamilton on the team radio: “One hundred and fifty metres left and close.

“So just peak and release into [turn] 5. Don’t push the entry in 16. Rest is good.”

Hamilton has been told to lift and coast before this season, with Ferrari constantly worried about the car’s ride height after their disqualification in China.

On lap 48, Adami told Hamilton: “Try to prepare a better exit than earlier on K1. Norris down on energy for info.”

Hamilton replied: “I need that. I’ll be back. My rear is terrible.”

Adami then asked Hamilton: “You can let Charles by. He’s one and a half [seconds] behind you. This is the last lap.”

The seven-time world champion slowed down, but ended up finishing half a second ahead of his teammate after initially being let through earlier in their final stints.

After the race, Hamilton asked: “How bad was my pace?”

He then continued: “Through the whole race, I struggled with the rear end the whole race.

“Also, the rear didn’t look great.”

Finally, Hamilton concluded: “It’s a car, mate. It’s given absolutely everything. It’s just got no rear end.”

Adami responded and said: “Yeah, let’s go back on FP3, FP2 and make it better for next time. Good work out there and keep it stronger.”

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Charles Leclerc praised Lewis Hamilton heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Leclerc went into the race in Azerbaijan with a 45-point advantage over Hamilton, although their mistake in swapping back position means that gap has narrowed slightly heading into the Singapore Grand Prix.

Ferrari will be concerned by the lack of progress both of their drivers were able to make, with Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda able to hold position ahead of Hamilton and Lando Norris during the final stint.

Leclerc praised Hamilton’s ability to adapt to the street circuit in Baku as he was dealing with his own struggles throughout the race weekend.

It speaks volumes about the steps backwards Ferrari have taken over the past 12 months that the Monegasque driver wasn’t in contention for pole position or victory.

Leclerc had taken four pole positions on the bounce in Azerbaijan and barely finished in the points on Sunday.

Hamilton is still getting to grips with an extremely tough SF-25 to drive, but his lack of progress has to be compared to the difficulties that Leclerc has faced in the same time period.