Seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton expressed dissatisfaction with his performance after qualifying in eighth place (P8) for the Japanese Grand Prix, held at the iconic Suzuka Circuit. The Ferrari driver, in his debut season with the Scuderia, acknowledged that the result fell short of his expectations, despite reaching Q3 in a tightly contested session.
Hamilton’s comments came after a challenging qualifying outing on Saturday, where he finished 0.311 seconds behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, who secured fourth place (P4). Reflecting on his performance, Hamilton told reporters, “I generally struggled throughout the qualifying session. P8 is not where I want to be.” He attributed his result to a lack of clean laps in Q3, citing a significant oversteer moment in the middle sector during his first flying lap and an inability to improve on his second attempt.
The 40-year-old Briton, who joined Ferrari at the start of the 2025 season after a storied tenure with Mercedes, has faced a mixed start with his new team. While he celebrated a sprint race victory in China earlier this year, Hamilton has struggled to consistently match the pace of Leclerc and the front-runners. Saturday’s result underscored ongoing adjustments as he adapts to the Ferrari SF-25, a car he admitted still requires fine-tuning to suit his driving style.
“It was a day where we’ve done big changes on my side to try and find a way to be a bit more comfortable in the car,” Hamilton explained. “Since the beginning of the year, it hasn’t been exactly where I want it to be, but it’s been really positive so far.” Despite the setbacks, he remained optimistic about the progress made, though he conceded that the team’s decision to run the car higher than preferred—partly a response to a double disqualification in China two weeks prior—may have compromised performance.
Ferrari’s struggles in China, where both Hamilton and Leclerc were disqualified from the grand prix due to technical infringements, appear to have had a lingering impact. Hamilton noted, “We’re a bit higher than we want to be, and that’s the knock-on effect from the weekend we had before.” The team had raised the car’s ride height to avoid excessive plank wear, a precaution that sacrificed some aerodynamic efficiency at Suzuka.
In contrast, Leclerc extracted more from the car, finishing nearly three-tenths ahead of Hamilton and earning praise from his teammate. “Charles did an amazing job,” Hamilton said, acknowledging Leclerc’s ability to maximize the Ferrari’s potential despite the team’s admission of “lacking overall performance,” as Leclerc himself noted post-session.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, Hamilton pinned his hopes on changing weather conditions, with rain forecast overnight. “I’m excited—I genuinely love the rain,” he said. “Usually when you have a qualifying like I just had, you hope for the rain. So I hope that it stays.” Wet conditions could shake up the order and provide an opportunity for the veteran driver to recover positions.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur echoed the sentiment of a challenging weekend, emphasizing the need to regroup after a mixed qualifying. “We’ve seen Charles get the most out of the car today, but for Lewis, it’s been tougher,” Vasseur said. “We’ll analyze everything tonight and aim to give both drivers the best chance tomorrow.”