Lewis Hamilton endured a challenging afternoon at the 2025 Formula 1 British Grand Prix wrestling with what he described as an “unbelievably tricky” Ferrari in mixed conditions as he narrowly missed out on a home podium.
On his Silverstone debut for Ferrari, the British driver aimed to extend his run of 12 consecutive podium finishes at the circuit.
However, he narrowly missed out after being unable to catch and pass Nico Hulkenberg in the latter stages of the Grand Prix.
At the race start, Hamilton gained one position as George Russell pitted for slick tyres after the formation lap.
He soon found himself in eighth after the first Safety Car as others behind him benefited from the chaos of the British weather and multiple incidents.
The seven-time World Champion got his head down, fending off Russell, eventually passing Pierre Gasly and then Lance Stroll despite struggling with his SF-25 in the wet-weather conditions.
With just the Sauber ahead, he pitted for slick tyres, but emerged out of the pits and ran wide, losing time to the German driver once he boxed for a set of Softs.
Hamilton had to settle for fourth and later reflected on the race, expressing frustration with how difficult the Ferrari was to handle in the tricky conditions.
“Yeah, difficult day, I think, for everybody,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “Not the result that I was hoping for, but [I] got some points still.
“It was the most difficult car I’ve driven here in these conditions.
“The car was unbelievably tricky to drive. I think, ultimately, I learned a lot today, there is lots to take from the day.
“It’s only my second time driving in the wet in this car – I can’t even express to you how hard it is – it’s not a car that likes those conditions.”
Hamilton struggles with ‘snappy’ Ferrari in wet conditions
During the race, the 40-year-old labelled his Ferrari car as very “snappy” as he admitted to several other mistakes throughout the Grand Prix.
After the promise of the earlier practice sessions on Friday heading into Saturday, the weekend never materialised for Hamilton at Silverstone.
Issues on both sides of the Scuderia garage affected the car’s qualifying performance, and Ferrari struggled to manage the wet conditions on Sunday.
After the race, Hamilton’s focus quickly shifted to 2026 as he hopes to reconvene with the team back at the factory on what could be improved for next season.
He explained: “Having lots of data to take from this, for me it’s to sit down with the people that are designing the car for next year because there’s elements of this car that can go into the following [year].”
When asked if the car got easier to handle as the track dried, he added: “Not particularly – a little bit more when it was fully dry at the end.
“But even then, you saw I went wide, and then it snapped and spun at Turn 11 – lots of mistakes today.”
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