Lewis Hamilton has pointed to major handling issues as the key reason behind his lacklustre qualifying result for the 2025 Japanese GP, after Ferrari made key setup changes to avoid a repeat of their disqualification in China.
The seven-time world champion will start eighth on the starting grid at Suzuka, behind both Red Bulls, McLarens, and teammate Charles Leclerc, who lines up fourth. Ferrari has been under scrutiny since both drivers were excluded from the results in Shanghai two weeks ago for separate technical infringements.
Hamilton, speaking after Japanese GP qualifying, explained that while Ferrari made changes for compliance, they may have overcorrected.
“Not good enough from my side. P8 is not great. We are running higher than I would like but everyone is in the same boat,” Hamilton said.
“Charles [Leclerc] did an amazing job. We went in different directions with set-up. I had a lot of understeer and just couldn’t dial it up.”
Ferrari changes backfire amid handling woes
Ferrari made the call to raise the ride height on both cars after Shanghai, where Hamilton’s rear skid plank was found to be excessively worn and Leclerc’s car underweight by 1kg.
In their official post-race statement, the team acknowledged a setup miscalculation: “With regard to Lewis’ skid wear, we misjudged the consumption by a small margin. There was no intention to gain any advantage.”
Although the changes were meant to ensure compliance, they also disrupted the car’s performance window. At a circuit as precise as Suzuka, where balance, cornering grip and aero efficiency are critical, Hamilton found himself fighting understeer throughout the session.
Still, the Briton is hopeful that changing weather conditions could play to his strengths on race day.
“I genuinely love the rain so I hope it comes tomorrow after a qualifying like that,” Hamilton said, with forecasts predicting an 86% chance of rain for Sunday’s race.
Leclerc, who will start from P4, suggested his side of the garage had found something useful in the lead-up to qualifying.
“We have got some other issues, not particularly with the ride height of the car. I can’t go too much into detail,” Leclerc said.
“We really found something from my driving style that seems to work a bit better and gave me a lot more confidence for the rest of qualifying.”
Ferrari now enters Sunday’s Japanese GP chasing redemption, and with the possibility of wet weather shaking up the field, both drivers will need to extract every ounce of pace from a car still teetering between progress and unpredictability.
