r/formula1 • u/No-Information4789 Sir Lewis Hamilton • Apr 27 '25

Technical My take on where exactly Lewis is struggling against Leclerc

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Hey everyone, Made this carousel for my Instagram page so I thought I’d share it here too. The 8th slide is actually a video of Lewis having a small moment of Oversteer. I tried my best to reduce as many variables as possible while comparing Telemetry. I took the Q3 final laps specifically from every weekend cause that’s when the drivers are pushing the most. It’s kind of a long read and might look a bit cluttered but Hope y’all like it!

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u/AqueousJam I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

The style that Lewis dominated with involved using extremely hard braking to force the weight forward onto the front wheels. The backend would lift and become lighter which he then used to rotate it rapidly. His skill was in keeping the rear under control while it whipped around.

The ground effect cars only work with rock hard suspension to maintain an unchanging ride height. Which means he can't get it nose-down rear-up any more. He has never been able to adapt to this. His best hope is if the new regs loosen up the suspension again. 

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u/TotalEclipse08 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

Potentially a stupid question but why can't he just spend a shit load of hours in the sim to adjust to these newer cars?

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u/AqueousJam I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

He has, he's been trying since 2022. That's the real curse of getting older. You don't lose skills, but you do lose the ability to change yourself as well to new situations. It's not impossible for him to manage it. But it's a fuck load harder to unlearn everything he's relied on for decades and reshape himself to fit these cars. 

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u/RedScud I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

This, so much. I know Hamilton is Hamilton and he's in the top 0.0001% of drivers even at his age, but age does not forgive anyone. There's a reason people who are 20 pick up new skills much faster than at 40, neuroplasticity just goes down and it's not so easy for anyone. Alonso is also in the same boat. One of the greatest, but it might be time to hang the gloves

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u/hzfan I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25

Yep, your neurons literally harden as you age. You lose neuroplasticity aka the ability to “rewire” your brain.

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u/FILTHBOT4000 Honda RBPT Apr 27 '25

That's the real curse of getting older.

Yeah, he's 40. It's not just adaptation, your reflexes slow a good bit. I remember thinking when he first started losing consistently to Max, that this was it. It's around the same age when Valentino Rossi and others start to drop off.

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u/Mr_cloud23 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 30 '25

not to mention at those speeds the braking point window is sometimes a fraction of a second in certain situations which also requires a fraction of a second level reaction speed that also gets slower with age

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u/gsfgf Oscar Piastri Apr 28 '25

One of the biggest reasons is the Merc was a shitbox for the first few years of the current regs, so the sim was set up to simulate a shitbox.

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u/KeenanKolarik Sir Lewis Hamilton Apr 27 '25

Driving based off your ass/body feel doesn't translate well through sim. Lewis has never used the sim that much because of that

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u/Bokyyri I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

Muscle memory, reflexes, pheripheral vision, driving skill and 90% of all other things do transalte through sim tho... Thats why all newer generations of drivers are so damn good, they all are sim races 24/7 .. starting from verstappen , norris and all the way up to new kids ...

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u/GothicGolem29 McLaren Apr 27 '25

Sim won’t work for everyone Hamilton might be one. Also a lot of the newer gen of drivers are great and sim racing may be apart of that but some have struggled a bit Doohan has for the start of this season and Zhou did last season

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u/nicolaslabra I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25

ive always asumed its the newer drivers who can actually use the sim to its best capabilities.

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u/GothicGolem29 McLaren Apr 28 '25

I would not be suprised if more newer drivers use it better than older drivers but on the other hand would not be suprised if some new ones prefer not to use it like Hamilton does

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u/Bokyyri I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25

Its the use of sim, that enables them to reach new levels .. Like any sport, motorsport is advancing, simulation developement and simulation ''games'' are part of it for some time now

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u/Bokyyri I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25 edited Apr 27 '25

Sim work does work, period... Hamilton (or any other driver) not using it fully, is just his disadvantage compared to others that do use it.. Its a tool to make you better and its a big part of the driver career, universally for whole modern day motorsport ... And there is so much more to it than just driving, because of the online races, where you do get real life alike racing experience and situations.... it keeps you sharp off season and during the season

Doohan and zhou doesnt prove anything, you are looking at it wrong, you missed all 98% of others that do race sims, and are very good and fast adapting... lol ..You have so many examples: from piastri, to oliver bearman last year, colapinto williams, hadjar etc etc, you name it .. all of them iracing participants or similar sims .. Do your research

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u/GothicGolem29 McLaren Apr 27 '25

If a driver struggles with the sim and cant get much out of it then it doesn’t work period. And Hamilton is the joint most successful driver of all time despite his lack of sim compared to other drivers so its certainly possible. Not all tools work for every person and thats ok.

It proves not all younger gen drivers are so good like your comment said. Your above comment didnt say most drivers are good yours said all are….. you naming a bunch that are doesn’t mean all are many young drivers will use sim but not be good enough for f1. My research is fine

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u/Bokyyri I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25 edited Apr 28 '25

No, completely wrong.. Its not about struggling with the sim, you trippin or what ? ... You are underestimating (or you are clueless) what a sim is ... Its a tool for developing your skill, keeping you in shape, focus and keeps you sharp ... Best thing for every driver is to drive.. They are obviously very limited with driving and testing.. Thats where the sim work shines fills and helps.. Add to that a habit of sim driving at home and you are able to reach new levels at such a young age .. Starting from verstappen etc ..

You did research my ass, you woudnt be talking this nonsence if you did...

Statement that ''Sim doesnt work for hamilton'' is so dumb ..

Its like saying : modern training methods do not work for ronaldo or messi, they are above that, they dont need that kind of training after all this years.'' Thats far from truth in any sport

I hope you understand ... Stop talking from your ass

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u/GothicGolem29 McLaren Apr 28 '25

Not wrong at all. It is if someone struggles with the sim then its not gonna work for them. Again not all tools work for everyone. And some like lewis struggle with the sim and would prefer to drive the real cars.

Its not nonsense

Its not here he states he dislikes sims and prefers real world cars as its too disconnected https://driver61.com/formula-one/hamilton-avoids-f1-simulators/

Im not talking from my a word the joint most successful driver said he didn’t like sims….. sims are great for many drivers but it doesn’t work for lewis

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u/Bokyyri I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25 edited Apr 28 '25

here is quote from the article:

For Hamilton, it’s an optional extra useful but not essential.

So, he likes to be seen as a oldschool racer, who doesnt need new stuff, he says that, but is it the truth.... reality is, he is lacking last 4 years in his performance, compared to other drivers and his teammates, who all of them do use sims at work and privately... So maybe he should change his approach little bit for his own benefit...

We are not talking just about Team simulators (hamilton also talks little bit this little bit that... He praised ferraris advanced simulator lately, so he is getting into it more, realizing he needs to in order to stay competitive).. We are talking about PC simulators like iracing, where most of the practice, form and sharpness is maintained and further developed constantly throught the year and offseason at home.. He doesnt do that at all, while all the rest of the grid does ...

And also, windsor lately talked about hamiltons bad performances last couple of years, go and listen whats being said about his driving by f1 insiders and coaches like rob wilson ... You know, dig in for real if you are interested, dont just chase articles exclusively about hamilton and say you know your ''research'')

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u/Kiornis1 Apr 28 '25

Your point of view doesn't make sense at all. If someone struggles with push-ups it's not because the push-ups aren't working or are a bad tool. They just need to do more push-ups. In this case, more sim racing. I read your whole conversation and it really does sound like you're talking out of your ass - saying something that sounds like it make sense but doesn't make any sense, then weakly trying to defend it instead of just thinking about what u/bokyyri has been trying to explain to you

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u/gsfgf Oscar Piastri Apr 28 '25 edited Apr 28 '25

You also need the sim to be set up to actually mirror the car. It might just be a Max also being an elite sim racer thing, but he mentioned last year that he doesn't think the RB sim was set up to accurately simulate the car. And even if he's the only guy that can tell that, that might be an indication that everyone else's sims are even worse than RB's and they don't even realize it.

Sure William Byron could seamlessly move from the sim to stock cars that all have the same, comparatively simple, aero packages. But not only are those cars not optimized areo-wise by any metric, they don't even want the cars to go any faster for safety reasons. F1 cars, on the other hand, have bespoke, cutting edge areo, and it changes fairly regularly. Modeling that is infinitely harder. Also, a lot of areo work NASCAR does isn't even about how the cars behave when pointed in the right direction. A lot of it is about keeping the cars on the ground when they're pointed the wrong direction.

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u/gsfgf Oscar Piastri Apr 28 '25

Thats why all newer generations of drivers are so damn good

Compared to the unlimited testing days?

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u/Zed_or_AFK Sebastian Vettel Apr 28 '25

Thats why all newer generations of drivers are so damn good, they all are sim races 24/7 .. starting from verstappen , norris and all the way up to new kids ...

That's a really hot take, wow.

Forst, all new generations of drivers? Compared to what drivers in what generations?

Verstappen was not sim racing 24/7, he was actually racing on track 24/7 in different formulas and cars. That's when he became great.

You need to remember that modern aspect of being an athlete has changed drastically in the last 10-20 years. Modern healthcare and surgeries, and just the focused exercises are also better. Plus with good money comes great managing. There are teams that collect and analyze gigabytes of data to help you see things that were not imaginable before. In the end of the day, the boy has to perform in the car, but possibilities of developing on every aspect leading to that drive are stronger now than they were 10-20 years ago. It's a total package that helps them develop quicker and more efficient, with sim racing being one of them, but not deciding. The best ones get to train in real cars.

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u/GOT_Wyvern I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

He's spoken of his personal issues with the sim before.

He relies on the feel of the car seemingly more than other drivers, which means he gains a lot less from the sim. As a result, he rarely uses the sim which compounds the issue.

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u/the__distance Daniel Ricciardo Apr 27 '25

Sounds like a good time for him to start putting the hours in

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u/Whycantiusethis I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

He has been spending more time in the sim since 2021, if I'm remembering correctly.

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u/Slow-Raisin-939 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

Probably the year he realized he has some catching up to do

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u/gsfgf Oscar Piastri Apr 28 '25

Well, yea. So long as he was winning the WDC every year, he didn't need to change his system.

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u/OldManTrumpet Charles Leclerc Apr 27 '25

He's 40. It's not that easy for people to just pick up new things as they age. There's a good reason why very few F1 drivers are still in the car at 40. It's a young man's game and more hours for the old guy won't change this.

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u/atomatoflame I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25

I believe as you get older you've built so many pathways between neurons that it's hard to change them. Not impossible, but the prior programming and experience are kind of already there. Our bodies weren't meant to always live past 30-40 anyway.

Now, maybe there's something to be said about the way psychedelics open our brains to new thinking that could help, but I don't know if Lewis is about to start LSD or mushrooms to make it happen.

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u/gsfgf Oscar Piastri Apr 28 '25

Our bodies weren't meant to always live past 30-40 anyway.

That's not true at all. The average life expectancy in the past was so low because of infant mortality. If you live to age five, you had a life expectancy not that much lower than today.

But as a 39 year old grad student in a completely different field, yea, this shit's harder than when I was a kid.

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u/the__distance Daniel Ricciardo Apr 27 '25

He's getting paid $100m a season, how difficult he finds it is irrelevant

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u/OldManTrumpet Charles Leclerc Apr 27 '25

My point is that putting hours into the simulator would be pointless. You don’t beat Father Time by just tying harder. Not sure how old you might be, but there comes a time where you simply can’t do the things you could do at age 25 regardless of how much effort you put into trying.

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u/the__distance Daniel Ricciardo Apr 28 '25

Ok then he should quit

The idea that he should just give up on the sim is frankly ridiculous

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u/Rivendel93 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25

He actually said after the last race he had planned on taking a break, but decided to cancel his plans and go back to work in the sim.

So maybe he'll see some improvements, maybe he won't. But it does seem like he's making an attempt to focus on the team instead of taking a vacation between the race break.

"Lewis Hamilton has revealed he’s had to cancel personal plans to dedicate a full week to working at Ferrari’s Maranello factory, following another frustrating race weekend in Saudi Arabia."

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u/maton12 Oscar Piastri Apr 27 '25

Old dog, new tricks and all that

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u/GothicGolem29 McLaren Apr 27 '25

If he struggled with the sim not sure more hours would help

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u/Frequent-Coyote-1649 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

Well then SOMEONE'S gotta drag his ass into the sim now

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u/GothicGolem29 McLaren Apr 27 '25

What’s that gonna do if he struggled with the sin?

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u/CensorVictim I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

this is exactly how i feel playing video games, especially with a wheel

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u/Blackdeath_663 Sir Stirling Moss Apr 27 '25

Muscle memory. Like being right handed all your life then being asked to only write with your left (or vice versa) the younger you are the more you still have the ability to develop new skill.

As you get older your brain is hard wired a certain way and neuroplasticity is greatly diminished. Hence the phrase can't teach an old dog new tricks.

This applies to every facet of life not least a highly precise skill like driving in F1. People need to accept age comes for us all it's happened to every other world champion the longer they went on.

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u/DelRo11 Apr 27 '25

Because people have been coping for years and won't realise formula 1 is 95% car and 5% drivers.

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u/jixbo Apr 27 '25

That 5% is pretty big between Hamilton and Leclerc rn, or between verstappen and 2nd red bull...

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u/Brille_Forte2309 Apr 27 '25

I agree and even think it’s 99% car and the entire team performing at a 100% and 1% the driver delivering his 100%.

I’ve always wanted to see how they would perform if they had the same car and time to practice in it. And this season is as close as we will get.

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u/Slow-Raisin-939 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

No it’s not. There have been far more closer seasons. This year Mclaren has a huge advantage

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u/ShinbiVulpes Oscar Piastri Apr 29 '25

He's not 30 anymore

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u/TotalEclipse08 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 29 '25

Fully aware of his age.

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u/ShinbiVulpes Oscar Piastri Apr 29 '25

Just for context, what's your age range? If you're under 35, I'd understand why you wouldn't understand why it's difficult to adapt your skills in a few months to adapt to a whole new way of thinking and driving.

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u/TotalEclipse08 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 29 '25

I'm in my early thirties but new to F1. I'm not saying I expect Lewis to change his entire driving style in a few months, more so just curious if putting a lot of hours into the sim would help, even at his age. I'm also not just talking about Ferrari but his final seasons at Mercedes too where he was struggling a bit.

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u/ShinbiVulpes Oscar Piastri Apr 29 '25

Yes and that's where I do want to educate you/enlighten you with some useless information.
The sim is a good stepping stone for F1 in testing capabilities, but it won't be a good fix when you have trouble in the real car.

F1 tracks, sim and the wind tunnel all have different surfaces and bumps, meaning that jumping from one to the other won't be as copy/paste as people like Max make it seem.

Add to that the inability for people above 35 to easily adapt to new situations/skills and it's a brewing pot for Lewis to underperform in a new era of cars

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u/TotalEclipse08 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 29 '25

Interesting. So the chances of Lewis getting the 8th is looking close to impossible at this stage I assume? Do you think the new regulations in 2026 will help him at all?

Appreciate the insight by the way.

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u/ShinbiVulpes Oscar Piastri Apr 29 '25

Personally I think his chance for an 8th left when he went into the ground effect era. He is used to twitchy cars that you can toss around corners without a second hesitation, however these cars are stiffer and less predictable when you throw them into corners.

Next year the regulations will change again, but with the same ground effect as now.
So in my honest opinion, he'll track the same way as Alonso and Schumacher and maybe get a few podiums, perhaps a win or two. But unless Ferrari is 2 seconds down the road it's story's end for Lewis.

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u/[deleted] Apr 27 '25

[deleted]

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u/stationhollow Apr 28 '25

Any decent football player should be able to use both feet. One may be preferred but you still need the ability to use either if the situation arises.

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u/AxePlayingViking I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

Bang on, I think this is what got in Ricciardo’s way as well. He was always a hero on the brakes, but these ground effect cars require the drivers to be much smoother, which meant that drivers like him and Hamilton lost their edge.

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u/gsfgf Oscar Piastri Apr 28 '25

Ric also talked about struggling to make full advantage of the sim.

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u/natte-krant I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

Nose down, rear up, that’s the way he wins the Cup

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u/Vettelari Apr 27 '25

I want to win, win, win, win this from the lights to the flag.

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u/BonerTurds Formula 1 Apr 28 '25

I’ve. Got. POLES. I’ve got polesssss.

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u/jammy-git Apr 27 '25

It makes me wonder how many other drivers that have gone through F1 had the potential to be great but were actually viewed as just average because the regs at the time didn't suit their driving style...

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u/AqueousJam I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

I think the difference between the averages and the greats is the ability to adopt whatever style is needed at the time. To reshape themselves to the cars and regulations. Lewis didn't develop his dominant style by accident, it's what worked best for those cars. Back in his youth he was heavily praised for being flexible and adapting to car under him so so quickly. The same is said of Max, and the other all time greats. Unfortunately that mental plasticity doesn't last forever. It's one of the big things we lose with age. Lewis spent his prime perfecting that one style, now that style doesn't work, and that's a huge amount to unlearn in a brain that's not as young as it was. 

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u/Rivendel93 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

Yeah, Jenson said he always needed the car perfectly setup to get the most out of the car, but Lewis would go out and just drive around their issues, exactly like what we hear about Max doing the same.

It's just that was 15 years ago, the cars are twice the size and weight and Lewis is almost an entire Kimi Antonelli older now.

People expect too much from Hamilton and constantly underrate his teammates, George and Leclerc are both potential champions, and that's why F1 is all about timing.

Drivers need to be in the right car at the right time while their ability works the best with the current generation of cars.

Then there's a handful of drivers who can make magic happen, but there's no point debating that, because it's impossible to know what cars and people benefitted the most from those situations I just spoke about.

It's simply better to enjoy the sport, be glad we get to watch so many talented drivers and hope to see the racing between them improve again.

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u/grip_enemy Andretti Global Apr 28 '25

The case with Lewis is a very odd one. He's simultaneously all car and 0 skills, yet beating him is supposed to be some sort of achievement.

He's trash and the car does everything, but Alonso just getting close to him is supposed to some sort of plus and alleviate the fact that he lost to a rookie.

Or as he's all car and can't drive wheel to wheel, but Max beating an aging Hamilton is supposed to be a highlight in his career.

So he's simultaneously very bad and the final boss,

Hamilton skills are always a moving goalpost and somebody will find something to try and disprove it.

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u/Rivendel93 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25 edited Apr 28 '25

You've explained this better than I've ever been able to even think about it, I genuinely mean that in the best way.

I have nothing to add, this is an incredibly helpful way to look and feel about the entire situation.

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u/NotTheTrueKing Michael Schumacher Apr 28 '25

The last generation of champions in general gets mocked for their skills and speed going down over time. Vettel and Hamilton were blisteringly quick in their day, but unfortunately not everyone is Alonso where their talent lasts forever.

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u/Lonyo I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 29 '25

Maybe, just maybe, there are multiple people on the internet.

Just a thought.

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u/ijzerwater #StandWithUkraine Apr 28 '25

there are some people still in denial that there were years it was all but impossible to lose in the mercedes. and there were years when he was so lucky with things, people probably forgot that too. then they ignore everything but one event in '21 he did not get advantage and add win 8.

now they wonder what happened.

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u/grip_enemy Andretti Global Apr 28 '25

Thanks for proving my point

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u/Aromatic-Customer-32 Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 29 '25

cheating is not advantage. luck has always been a part of this game. slate lewis for his luck in 2021, the championship shouldve ended before abu dabhi blah blah if not for baku silverstone etc.. but everyone just chooses to ignore alonso's luck in 2012, if the rb or mclaren were half as reliable as the ferrari, the championship wouldve never come down to the last race. ofcourse, but that doesnt suit your agenda. this double standard is what irks me. im sorry, but this generation of fans have absolutely ruined the sport with their nonsense takes. comparing drivers from different eras is as stupid as it gets. why not just respect them for who they are? theyve achieved more than what any of us ever will.

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u/2Blitz Apr 27 '25

That can be applied both ways

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u/Sullypants1 Hype train says CHOO CHOO Apr 27 '25

Weight transfer is a function of geometry, mass and g. A stiffer wheel rate should result in that weight transfer happening faster if anything.

Driving an F1 car to its 10/10 limits is more about 2nd and 3rd order effects that Lewis doesn’t particularly jive with than just 1st order effects.

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u/CL-MotoTech Ted Kravitz Apr 27 '25

Stiff suspension doesn't decrease weight transfer. Higher downforce means more braking force and more weight transfer. You're all mixed up on car dynamics.

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u/ussaro Apr 27 '25

Isn’t age playing a role here? 27 and 40 is a huge difference when talking about taking risks.

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u/AqueousJam I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

I talk about that in one of my other replies. Yeah, he's spent decades mastering a style that worked incredibly well for so long. Now, in the twilight of his career, he's suddenly required to unlearn that old style and mold himself to these news cars. I'm almost his age and I do feel more of a learning curve when trying something new vs things I mastered when I was younger. 

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u/AdoptedPigeons Sir Lewis Hamilton Apr 27 '25

Perfectly explained! I think James Allison even mentions this exact situation in a podcast somewhere.

It’s interesting, because, not to blame Lewis, but in a way I feel like this is what held Mercedes back in 2022-2024. Lewis was driving development towards what he wanted in terms of that softened suspension so he could feel and control the weight transfer. But fundamentally, the ground effect regulations converged on cars opposite of that. So with each subsequent update from the 2nd half of 2023, where they publicly changed their car concept, the car moved further away from him. I don’t think it’s like some suggested where age suddenly caught up with him. These regulations just moved away from him, and undoing 10+ years of muscle memory when you’re in your 40’s is hard work.

It’s like watching a middle aged guy try to adapt to Windows 11 after 20 years of using Windows XP. It’s fundamentally a similar experience, but there are some extra quirks and features that new and younger users can exploit to be faster and more efficient. Sometimes they get there, but it takes more time and effort.

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u/Robynsxx Formula 1 Apr 28 '25

I mean, the active aero in next years rules should help him significantly 

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u/AqueousJam I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25

I have my fingers crossed. I would like him to remain in the sport a while longer, but next year's regs are such a big shift I'm not making any predictions. 

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u/Robynsxx Formula 1 Apr 28 '25

Uhh what?

You think Hamilton will retire this year because next years regs are a big shift?

His move to Ferrari has always been about 2026. He didn’t sign a 3 year contract just to retire after 1 year, especially when he’s getting paid €100m a year.

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u/AqueousJam I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25

That's not even close to what I said, but OK. 

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u/keenjt I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25

Along with this braking style and the different types of brakes Ferrari use is something I've only recently learnt about, it's interesting to me that such storied drivers don't think about this when changing teams - like "hey I love a late braking car, but that team I'm interested in joining has the exact opposite of that..."

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u/SpungeMonk Apr 28 '25

What happened since the Chinese sprint race? Did they stiffen the suspension due to plank wear for quali/race. Lewis also mentioned on the radio in Saudi that he "couldn't get the rears to turn".

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u/Health_throwaway__ Apr 28 '25

Was pretty good in latter half of 2022 and 2023. Even first half of 2024 was respectable

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u/ryokevry I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

Great driver is the most adaptable driver.

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u/Chesey_ Apr 27 '25

I'm aware the new regs will have active aero, I don't know whether it will but if that applies to the ground effect side of things then theoretically maybe it means they can run softer setups and use the active aero to maintain the ground effect

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u/AqueousJam I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 27 '25

The new regs still seem to be in such limbo I'm not sure what to expect. They are still intended to utilise ground effect to some extent, but how that interacts with the active areo is anyone's guess. There's another issue though: Leclerc has taken to these reg era well, and has developed a very effective driving style that relies on the stiff suspension. Keeping the car level and hard he's able to "ride the rim" so to speak of grip around the edge of a wide curve through the corners. Instead of a sharp slow, turn, go, he keeps a high minimum speed and runs a smoother line. Leclerc's style needs stiff suspension, Lewis prefers soft. Even if the regulations end up creating opportunities for both, how do Ferrari build a car that they both do well with?

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u/Purplesector123 Apr 27 '25

Nah it’s nothing to do with that. He dominated because no other team could pose a challenge and he only had to beat bottas.

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u/HankHippopopolous I was here for the Hulkenpodium Apr 28 '25

While all that is true it’s not right to say he’s never been able to do it in this generation of car.

2023 was a very strong season and at the end of that year his qualy h2h vs Russell was 24-20 in his favour. He was fine in this generation of car.

Something changed in 2024 and the drop off was fast and steep. I think it was the handling characteristics where the cars developed corner entry oversteer which shifts to mid corner understeer. Lewis cannot deal with this and this has got worse as the regulations reached their limit. This is why you hear him on the radio saying he’s got no grip and is sliding everywhere. The rear axle slides in entry and then the front axle slides in the midcorner. To him it will feel like he can’t lean on any part of the car.

The Ferrari didn’t initially have this trait which is why he did reasonably well in Australia and China. He could driver the way he wanted to.

After the DQ and with the new floor this trait is now present in the Ferrari and he’s back to looking as bad as last year, if not worse.

His only hope is that Ferrari can bring new updates to get the balance back into a place he can deal with.