Ferrari arrive in Monaco determined to erase their nagging qualifying weakness and have placed seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at the centre of the fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamilton revealed that he and the Maranello engineers spent the early part of the week \u201cSo I was in the simulator on Monday, I was in nice and early in the morning,\u201d to develop what he calls \u201csome ideas\u201d aimed at unlocking one-lap speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The initiative follows a bruising double Q2 exit at Imola that left Hamilton fourth and Charles Leclerc sixth on home soil, underlining how the SF-25 has struggled to light up soft tyres when it counts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Team principal Fred Vasseur has admitted Ferrari \u201ccan\u2019t extract the potential of the soft tyre in qualifying,\u201d a flaw that has so far yielded just one front-row grid slot from nine sessions in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saturday matters more than ever at Monaco, where 32 of 70 Grands Prix have been won from pole and only ten by drivers starting outside the top three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamilton describes qualifying as \u201cour big weakness this year,\u201d noting, \u201cWe\u2019re not extracting the performance from the tyres and that\u2019s something we are working on. I had some ideas, the team had some ideas, and so we will try those this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamilton says the post-Imola debrief extended straight into Maranello\u2019s simulator, where \u201cIt\u2019s really incredible to see the engineers and the mechanics, it does not stop. They go home on the Sunday night, and then they are in the factory the next day. It just does not stop, they\u2019re churning through the data.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling more at home in the team, things work differently here. They\u2019ve never had anyone like me here, and so it\u2019s been challenging on both sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut we\u2019re really finding harmony I think in the way that we\u2019re moving forwards. I hope that that starts to reflect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamilton calls Monaco in Ferrari colours a fresh novelty even after 327 grand-prix starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery weekend is something new,\u201d he said, recalling how Imola required him to learn a different garage layout and even find his room in the motorhome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis weekend walking into the garage it\u2019s all red, it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve been in Monaco\u2026 I\u2019ve never been in the Ferrari garage in Monaco. I\u2019ve always walked past it, I always wondered what it\u2019d be like to be in the team. I just didn\u2019t see it until now and it\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that he \u201cfor years always wondered what a Ferrari would feel like around this track,\u201d and while unsure how the SF-25 will respond, he is \u201cdefinitely excited to experience it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Home favourite Leclerc, who broke his Monaco victory duck last year, is banking on the new ideas to deliver another magical Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hope we\u2019ll discover something new about our car that we haven\u2019t seen yet since the beginning of the season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUntil we get to qualifying and until that lap in Q3, you have the hope of doing something magic because you don\u2019t really know where you stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, I will have my hopes until the end. So, I still have hopes that we can reproduce what happened last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cObviously, it\u2019s still very fresh in my mind to come back in this paddock. The last time I was there, we won, and it was a very special moment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Ferrari\u2019s tweaks translate into a front-row berth, the team could stem a momentum swing toward McLaren and close the gap in both titles before the European stretch intensifies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamilton insists the strategy is worth the gamble even on a circuit that punishes experimentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the best place to try those things but we will try to make a step in qualifying. It\u2019s a natural progression over the year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monaco will reveal whether those simulator hours and fresh ideas become the breakthrough Ferrari desperately needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ferrari arrive in Monaco determined to erase their nagging qualifying weakness and have placed seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at the centre of the fix. Hamilton revealed that he and the Maranello engineers spent the early part of the week \u201cSo I was in the simulator on Monday, I was in nice and early in the morning,\u201d to develop what he calls \u201csome ideas\u201d aimed at unlocking one-lap speed. The initiative follows a bruising double Q2 exit at Imola that left Hamilton fourth and Charles Leclerc sixth on home soil, underlining how the SF-25 has struggled to light up soft tyres<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":34980,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,26],"tags":[32,29],"class_list":["post-35058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-latest-news","tag-ferrari","tag-lewis-hamilton"],"yoast_head":"\n