Why Martin Brundle finds Lewis Hamilton interviews ‘hard to watch’

Martin Brundle says he is finding it “very hard” to watch Lewis Hamilton’s downbeat interviews during the 2025 F1 season.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton qualified and finished seventh as his struggles to adapt to his Ferrari F1 car continued at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was once again convincingly outperformed by teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished 31 seconds ahead to claim Ferrari’s first podium in a grand prix this season.

Aside from an impressive pole position and win in the China sprint race in just his second competitive outing for Ferrari, Hamilton’s start to life in red has been largely disappointing.

Following another difficult qualifying, Hamilton said he needed a “brain transplant” to get his head around his Ferrari car, while after Sunday’s race in Jeddah he conceded he is bracing for a “painful” year.

"Nothing positive to take, except for Charles finishing on the podium, which is great for the team," a glum Hamilton said.

"It was horrible, not enjoyable at all. I was just sliding around. I didn't have grip. First stint, massive understeer, car not turning and then massive deg. The second stint, slightly better balance but still just no pace. Pretty bad.”

Hamilton added “I don’t have any answers” for his downturn in form.

The 40-year-old Briton’s lack of understanding for his ongoing travails have left Brundle worried.

“Hamilton would finish half a minute behind his team-mate Leclerc in seventh, albeit showing strong pace from time to time,” Brundle wrote in his Sky column.

“The pace is in there somewhere but it's a very hard watch when Lewis is doing post-race interviews at the moment.

“He's not happy with his performances and is clearly more than a little perplexed and disappointed.”

What’s going on with Lewis Hamilton?

Earlier in the weekend, Brundle stated that he was skeptical about the reasons for Hamilton’s woes.

“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.”