Ferrari has continued to maintain an evasive stance when it comes to discussing the car problems that hampered both drivers during Formula 1‘s Spanish Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were made to stutter over the line at the previous race in Barcelona as independent issues on their SF-25s limited the pair’s pace.
But while Leclerc managed to nurse his car home to third place, Hamilton lost out to Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg during a late restart and lagged home in sixth position.
Hamilton, who has struggled to match new team-mate Leclerc since his move to Ferrari, was despondent as he labelled it among the worst races he has experienced.
But despite being told not to expand on the details, the Briton admitted he was relieved to learn that there had been an external aspect that had hindered his progress.
Asked how much the issue had impacted him, Hamilton told media including Motorsport Week: “Massively.
“Unfortunately, the team yesterday said they didn’t really want us to talk too much about it, but we both had issues that were hindering us massively from halfway through the race already.
“I didn’t know whether or not we had that problem, but I said on the radio that it was the worst-feeling car I’d ever had – and it truly was with that issue.
“At the end of the race, I was like, ‘jeez, I’ve never experienced something this bad for such a prolonged time through a race’.
“It wasn’t until after the TV interviews I got back to the engineers and we found out there was an issue. It was a bit of a relief to hear that because I didn’t feel so terrible afterwards.”
Ferrari issues derailed initial promise
Likewise, Leclerc admitted he had been instructed to remain ambiguous regarding the complication that began to develop on his SF-25 during the race’s second stint.
“No, I cannot elaborate on those,” he said. “But yeah, it already started on my second stint a little bit. And then on the last stint, we had to manage quite a few of them.
“So it was a tricky race. But I think the positive was that the first stint was very positive in terms of pace.
“The second one wasn’t too bad, even with the first issues that we’ve encountered. The last one, we know why it was both.”
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur, who issued an explosive response to the growing rumours about his position, was agitated when pressed to provide more disclosure.
“When I’m telling you in the press conference that I won’t disclose, don’t come back 10 minutes later to try to understand,” he expressed.
“And the Friday after to try to understand – I won’t disclose what’s happened. It is like it is. Full stop.”
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