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Lewis Hamilton came over the Ferrari team radio to share that he had a lack of grip in his tires, especially the rears, during the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. The Briton was even asked by his team to give up his position to teammate Charles Leclerc in the early stages of the race, due to the pace difference between the two drivers.
Hamilton has struggled with his Ferrari SF-25 during the Spanish GP in Barcelona, as the driver has been unable to keep up with the front-running cars, two McLarens, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. The 40-year-old is now on a completely different strategy to his teammate in the race, and is a pit stop behind at the time of writing, after having started two places ahead of Leclerc on the grid.
After the first round of pit stops during the Spanish GP, Hamilton came over the team radio to share his struggles with the grip in his car, especially mentioning the lack of grip he felt in his rear tires.
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"I have just no grip, mate. No rears," Hamilton said over the team radio.
Lack of grip has been a recurring problem for Hamilton in the early stages of his Ferrari career, as the driver has seemed to struggle with switching his tires on during races this season. He has also not been able to emulate his teammate, Leclerc's pace in any Grand Prix yet this season.
Ferrari hoped to push on and compete at the front of the field in the final leg of the ongoing European triple-header, as was highlighted by their team boss Fred Vasseur before the weekend commenced. While Leclerc has been able to showcase decent race pace yet again in Spain, Hamilton has seemed to struggle, even after a decent qualifying result.
Lewis Hamilton eyes a podium finish after Spanish GP qualifying on Saturday
Lewis Hamilton hoped to achieve a podium finish at the Spanish Grand Prix after having qualified in P5 for the race. The 7x world champion is yet to finish on the podium in a conventional race for Ferrari, since joining the team at the start of the year.
Speaking about his potential race pace in comparison to the two McLarens and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, Hamilton said, via F1.com:
"Ah, it’s going to be close. It’s really close between us all, so I’m going to try and get on the podium for once!"
Hamilton sits sixth in the Drivers' standings, 16 points behind his teammate Leclerc in P5. The driver is the only Ferrari race winner this year, having claimed the sprint race victory in China earlier this year, but has only beaten his teammate in one race so far this season.
