Lewis Hamilton's F1 team-mate sends dire Ferrari warning

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc — Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton's F1 team-mate sends dire Ferrari warning

Lewis Hamilton has still not secured a grand prix podium with Ferrari

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 30 October 2025 19:58

Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari F1 team-mate Charles Leclerc has warned that it is going to be 'very tough' for the team to finish second in the constructors' championship.

While Leclerc has been in brilliant form in 2025, claiming seven podiums despite the clear limitations of the SF-25, Hamilton has not managed to claim a single grand prix podium since joining Ferrari in January.

Leclerc's last two race results in Austin and Mexico have boosted Ferrari up to second in the constructors' championship as Mercedes' form has begun to tail off, but Hamilton's role in that has been just chipping away, scoring points consistently.

Article continues under video

Speaking to F1 media after the Mexican Grand Prix, Leclerc warned that Ferrari are going to struggle to keep hold of second in the standings, saying that the SF-25's limitations means that 'perfect execution' is needed by the drivers to score a top result.

"It's going to be very, very tough," Leclerc said. "If I look back at the last two weekends, yes. If I look before these two weekends, not really.

"We just need to focus race by race and do the perfect execution just like we've done in the last two races," the eight-time grand prix winner added.

"That pays off, obviously, as always, but it's very difficult to be performing at this level all the time."

Hamilton's 2025 season

Hamilton has scored 37 points in the last five race weekends, vital points in the constructors' championship battle, and that led to team principal Fred Vasseur claiming the seven-time champion is 'back'.

But there's no doubt that he has had a disappointing first season at Ferrari.

Brought in to try and fire Ferrari to championship success for the first time since 2008, Hamilton is currently sat a distant sixth in the drivers' championship, and is now 64 points behind Leclerc.

If Ferrari are going to cling on to that second spot, Hamilton is likely going to have to start putting in the kind of performances that Leclerc has been over the past few race weekends, especially with the Silver Arrows just one point behind the Scuderia in the team standings.

In positive news for Hamilton though, he did achieve his best grand prix qualifying position of the season at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez last time out, lining up in third position for Sunday's race, with only a 10-second time penalty ruining his chances of securing a first grand prix podium with the team.

F1 HEADLINES: Lewis Hamilton blasts FIA decisions as 2026 driver replacement confirmed

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc