Lewis Hamilton believes that he could be in for an entire season of pain as he adapts to life as a Ferrari driver. The seven-time world champion has been unable to consistently match team-mate Charles Leclerc since joining the Italian constructor from Mercedes. Hamilton qualified seventh for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and so he lined up behind Leclerc on the grid for the fourth time in five races.

Despite gaining a position on Williams driver Carlos Sainz when the lights went out, he crossed the line in the same position in which he started, due to Lando Norris' charge from P10. More frustrating for Hamilton was the general lack of pace. While Leclerc scored Ferrari's first podium of the season, the legendary Brit was unable to close in on Kimi Antonelli, the man who replaced him at Mercedes.

Unfortunately for Hamilton and his fans, there is no light at the end of the tunnel just yet. "In qualifying, it's me extracting performance," he explained, noting the areas for improvement. "In the race today, I tried everything, and the car just didn't want to go quicker."

Hamilton continued: "I think I'll struggle also in Miami. I don't know how much longer I'll struggle for, but it's definitely painful." The Brit concluded by adding: "At the moment, there's no fix. So ... this is how it's going to be for the rest of the year. It's going to be painful."

Heading into the 2025 season, most expected Leclerc to have the upper hand on Hamilton, although the margin by which this has been the case has been surprising. That said, the Monegasque racer has been one of the most consistent stars on the grid since joining Ferrari, and has a case for being world champion material in the right machinery.

The paddock will enjoy a weekend off before the race in Miami, meaning Hamilton has a chance to study his team-mate's data and consider moving closer to Leclerc's set-ups, which the Brit revealed stay largely unchanged throughout race weekends.

"I mean, he's been driving this car for a long time, so he definitely knows it really well," the Stevenage-born racer explained. "There's plenty in the data, for sure. I mean, honestly, like, it doesn't look massively different in the data.

"Just... I go slower through the corners." Hamilton added: "We do have slightly different set-ups, I have to look and see whether that set-up is the way the car likes to be. Yeah, him and his side are definitely, obviously, doing a better job."