Martin Brundle sceptical of Lewis Hamilton excuse: “I struggle to buy into…”

Martin Brundle is sceptical that Lewis Hamilton’s struggles in the 2025 F1 season are solely due to his lack of understanding of the car, admitting he “doesn’t buy” that reason.

Hamilton endured another tricky race at the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, finishing seventh.

The seven-time world champion struggled for pace at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, finishing over 30 seconds behind teammate Charles Leclerc, who secured Ferrari’s first podium of 2025.

Hamilton has struggled to get close to Leclerc throughout the season, with his sprint race performance in Shanghai the only highlight of his Ferrari stint so far.

Reflecting on Hamilton’s underwhelming display in Saudi Arabia, Brundle admitted he doesn’t think Hamilton’s struggles are solely down to not understanding this year’s Ferrari.

“Fred [Vasseur] summed it up, he said it’s been up and down, because there was a time when we talked about in commentary where he was in the mid 1m32s which was bang on the pace,” Brundle said during Sky Sports’ post-race coverage.

“He ended up 31 seconds behind Charles Leclerc, his teammate. Obviously had a little bit more traffic because he was further down the grid so you can take some off for that but it was up and down. I struggle to buy into he doesn’t understand the car. It’s a new car, but here we are knocking on the door of May, and they’ve had all the pre-season stuff and all that.

“So I just think Lewis hasn’t gelled with this car and I don’t think he’s going the right way on the setup.

“I know from the things I’ve heard from Mercedes about how Lewis likes the car in a certain way. Obviously can’t get the car there, where he needs it, so it’s difficult days. But what’s a bit odd is, all of a sudden, he was right there.”

‘Something not working’ for Hamilton in 2025

Several other drivers who have made moves over the winter have struggled to get up to speed initially.

Carlos Sainz spent the first few rounds well behind Alex Albon.

However, since Bahrain, Sainz has led Williams’ charge as he’s adapted to the FW47.

Brundle used the example of Oliver Bearman, who starred for Ferrari in his stand-in race for the team last year as he deputised for Sainz at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

“Bearman, it took him a day last year here, but then he wasn’t relearning a car. He was just getting in and learning a car,” Brundle added.

“But Antonelli, he’s got used to working with Bono quite quickly in working with that car. He did a lot of testing last year.

“I’m struggling to buy into that, honestly, but we know Lewis is better, Lewis is faster than that. So something’s not working. Something’s not gelling there.”