Following the Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton, the Ferrari driver, admitted that a part of his car is not performing at the same level as his teammate Charles Leclerc`s. This revelation came after a disappointing weekend for Hamilton.
Hamilton started the race in eighth and finished in seventh place. His race was mostly uneventful after he overtook Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar early on Sunday.
Leclerc, however, outperformed Hamilton in qualifying by three-tenths of a second, starting and finishing fourth. He also crossed the finish line 13 seconds ahead of Hamilton.
“I did the best I could in the race. My car`s performance was noticeably less than the cars ahead,” Hamilton told media.
“We`ve identified an issue on the car that has been affecting performance for the past three races. I am hopeful that once this is resolved, my results will improve. We estimate that this problem is costing me just over a tenth of a second per lap. The team is working to fix it hopefully by the next race.”
Ferrari suspects they are not running their cars at the optimal low ride height. This comes after both Hamilton and Leclerc faced disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton was disqualified due to excessive wear on the plank underneath his car, and Leclerc`s car was underweight.
In modern Formula 1, teams aim to run their cars as low as possible to maximize downforce and achieve better performance.
Leclerc`s Driving Style Difference
Ferrari is currently 76 points behind McLaren in the Constructors` Championship after three race weekends. Despite pre-season optimism, Leclerc expressed disappointment at not being closer to the front. He hinted that a difference in driving style might be contributing to his performance advantage over Hamilton.
“There was no more performance to extract from the car,” Leclerc stated.
“The team did a good job with strategy and car balance to get the best possible result. However, it`s still disappointing to finish fourth when we are significantly slower than the leading teams.”
“While the first part of the race wasn`t too bad, we did lose some performance later on. On the positive side, we maximized our potential for the weekend. The negative is simply that our pace isn`t competitive enough.”
“I`ve adjusted my driving style in a specific direction, and I believe this is helping me to get more out of the car more consistently. This needs further confirmation, but I`m eager to see if it translates to Bahrain. If it does, I`m confident I can consistently maximize the car`s performance throughout the year. However, if that only results in fourth-place finishes, it`s not ideal. I hope the team can bring more performance upgrades soon.”
The Formula 1 season continues with the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir next weekend.
Gilbert Pendleton 
Wesley Dunham