P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Lewis Hamilton thought he’d made a crucial breakthrough with Ferrari’s F1 car last week, but a big Saudi qualifying deficit to Charles Leclerc suggests otherwise
Lewis Hamilton was optimistic for a breakthrough at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix due to changes in his driving style from Bahrain, but this optimism faded during a difficult Friday practice and underwhelming qualifying session in Jeddah. Hamilton admitted he was not gelling with the car and implied that what he had learned in Bahrain wasn’t leading to a potential breakthrough. Despite being happier with the car during qualifying than practice, Hamilton still struggled and was far from where he wanted to be. His qualifying performance was not his worst of 2025 but still far from ideal, as he faced challenges in pushing the car to its limit. Hamilton acknowledged he needed to go back to the drawing board and work on improving his performance.
