Photo: Race Pictures

Hamilton finds the groove again: 'One of the drives of the day'

09:15, 25 Sep

Updated: 11:10, 25 Sep

byOlly Darcy

F1 pundit James Hinchcliffe feels that Lewis Hamilton is beginning to find some form and is "starting to find his groove" at Ferrari.

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Lewis Hamilton at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Photo: Race Pictures

He was so much more confident in his car this weekend. He visibly looked lighter, more enthusiastic and happier to be at the racetrack

- James Hinchcliffe on Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time world champion and Charles Leclerc could only finish P8 and P9 around the Baku City Circuit, with the Brit crossing the line ahead of his teammate.

But after another disappointing qualifying session that saw the 40-year-old finish in a lowly P12, Hamilton battled through the grid to move his way up into the points, finishing ahead of his teammate in the process.

"In a race where we were expecting a lot of the out-of-position cars to make big ground and almost none of them did, Hamilton, from 12th to 8th and beating Leclerc, that might have been one of the drives of the day," the American stated on the F1 Nation podcast.

“It was kind of hidden and not really talked about. Obviously, Max, obviously, Carlos, obviously, George. But I think behind that, Hamilton’s drive - he actually made some progress.

“He beat his teammate. He was so much more confident in his car this weekend. He visibly looked lighter, more enthusiastic and happier to be at the racetrack than he has for quite some time.”

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“I really, truly hope that whatever it is they found, because we’ve seen this on in sessions maybe over the last half the year and maybe over a day, but it’s never over a weekend,” Hinchcliffe continued.

“He really carried that optimism all weekend long, even after the poor qualifying, going into the race, he was still optimistic he could make some ground up.

“Relatively speaking, he did. I really hope that whatever they found translates to other racetracks because Hamilton’s starting to find his groove in that car. That’s - that’s exciting for everybody.”

Baku still saw Ferrari issues

It has been a challenging start for Hamilton in his debut season at Ferrari, with the seven-time champion still waiting for his first Grand Prix podium in 2025.

Despite fighting his way through the grid to make his way up into the points, there was still some controversy surrounding Hamilton, Leclerc and Ferrari.

The Brit was told to let Leclerc back through before the end of the race after the Monegasque did so early in the Grand Prix. However, at the end of the race, that move did not get completed.

Team boss Fred Vasseur said that Hamilton made a "misjudgement", while Leclerc stated, "There are rules that we know we've got to work with. And today, maybe those rules were not respected."

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