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Lewis Hamilton faced intense scrutiny following a near-miss incident during practice at the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, highlighting the challenges of his transition to Ferrari.
During the session, Hamilton, now driving for Ferrari, was involved in a close call with Williams driver Alex Albon at a blind bend near Turn 9. Albon had to take evasive action and initially described the move as “f***ing dangerous” over team radio. However, upon review, he acknowledged that he had the situation under control and did not consider it dangerous. F1 stewards investigated and concluded that Hamilton had impeded Albon but did not warrant a penalty since there was no dangerous driving involved .
Hamilton’s performance in the race itself was underwhelming; he finished seventh, over 30 seconds behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, who secured Ferrari’s first podium of the season. Hamilton cited issues with understeer and high tire degradation, admitting he felt uncomfortable throughout the race and has yet to identify the cause of his underperformance .
Despite a promising sprint race victory in China, which was later nullified by disqualification, Hamilton’s performance has faltered after technical adjustments to the car. Team principal Fred Vasseur remains confident that improvements are possible, dismissing claims of a dramatic performance drop and affirming support for Hamilton .
As the season progresses, Hamilton and Ferrari continue to seek solutions to adapt and improve performance, with hopes of turning around a challenging start to the 2025 campaign.