Lewis Hamilton and lost time. Plus: Meet your new F1 points leader

New York Times

22-04-2025

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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we're afraid to put on those shiny Mercedes jackets lest we get attacked by a flock of magpies.
We're through five races of the 2025 Formula One season. I'm Patrick, and Madeline Coleman will be along shortly. Let's dive in.
There's a new name atop the drivers' standings after a win at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last weekend: Oscar Piastri.
You may be thinking: 'Yeah? So?' Yeah, so:
I'm not saying we're seeing the initial ascension of an all-time F1 driver, but I'm also not not saying that.
My first draft of this section was a whole trying-to-be-fun thing about the implausible situations necessary for Lewis Hamilton to rally from 68 points behind Piastri to win the championship this year.
Scrapped it. Hamilton won't win the title (and it doesn't feel fun!). Even the most die-hard Lewis fans must have accepted it by now — too many points to make up over too many races.
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And it turns out I'm less interested in that fact than I am with the mindset of a 40-year-old athlete who must know his final years in the sport are upon him. After coming up just short of his eighth world championship in 2021, he's centered the end of his career on finally reaching that goal. He's jumped to what he thought was a team on the upswing for the final three or four years of his career and now knows after just five races that one of those remaining race years has already been squandered.
I'm curious about the frame of mind of someone at the top of their game — an icon — looking across the garage of their new team and seeing a younger, more established driver adapting to the car faster.
Early in the season, it was easy to dismiss it as, 'Hey, look, they're both struggling; something's wrong with the car.' But what if this trend continues? What if Leclerc's first podium of the year, after finishing 2024 with seven podiums in the last 10 races, is just the beginning of a strong run for him while Hamilton continues to struggle adapting to the Ferrari? It's a fascinating psychological scenario for Hamilton, who has been the benchmark in F1 for so long.
At what point does an athlete at this stage of their career, having put so much pressure on this chapter, start questioning if they still have it?
I'm not ready to say Hamilton is there yet, it's too early. It's impossible for those who aren't peak athletes to fully understand an athlete's headspace, especially someone as private as Lewis. I've never covered an athlete who more fiercely guards their inner life.
And I'm certain Hamilton would scoff at this and tell me I'm overthinking it. He's probably right — after all, he dominated the sprint in China and showed flashes of brilliance defending Norris on Sunday. This newsletter could look silly a month from now.
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But I do wonder. Reading the comments from Lewis over the last few weeks … he warned last weekend of a 'painful' season ahead and said in Bahrain he's 'not doing a good enough job.' So, where's the tipping point? When does an athlete's confidence waver to the point of no return? How long does it take for frustration to become doubt? And as they get older, as time presses in, does it get harder to push that aside?
So I'm wondering, and I'm watching, and I'm curious. There's a lot of time left in the season. Not for Hamilton to win the championship, but to see whether he finds himself again. And how that sets him up for 2026.
Now let's throw it to Madeline Coleman for a surefire conversation starter. (She wrote about Ferrari's untapped potential today, by the way.)
We received the following reader question for our post-Saudi Arabian GP mailbag: Who is the best British driver today: Norris, Russell or Hamilton? And it's a great question, Matt S, though it depends on how you define 'today.'
When looking at the previous race, Russell arguably was the best British driver. Teammate comparison is a powerful tool here. He was ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli by seven seconds, while Hamilton was half a second off Leclerc and Norris was recovering from his qualifying crash and unable to crack the podium. The tire delta came into play for Russell's race, where he tried to cover off the undercut from Leclerc and couldn't hold back the Ferrari driver or Norris.
When you look at the season thus far and take the car out of the equation, an argument can also be made for Russell considering how many mistakes Norris has made. His drive in Bahrain was stellar after the car endured a series of failures and he's secured three podium finishes in five races — and brought home fifth in the other two grands prix.
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Both Norris and Russell are performing at a better level, while Hamilton has struggled with this new Ferrari chapter. The seven-time world champion is still among the greats in the sport, but he's not the best British driver today. Here's more from senior editor Alex Kalinauckas on Hamilton's struggles.
Pat note: Look for our full mailbag tomorrow. Also, for nostalgia, check out our 2023 story on the sport's emerging battle of the Brits.
Thanks, Madeline. Now it's time for …
Verstappen got a five-second penalty during the race because he went off track at the first corner while racing with Piastri, kept the lead, and didn't give it back. The race officials decided Piastri had earned the right to that corner since he was alongside Verstappen.
Were they right or was Verstappen unfairly punished? Here's the video. I paused it when Piastri could reasonably claim rights to the corner.
The apex is the inner point of a corner where drivers aim to hit the perfect racing line. According to the rules, because Piastri had his front wheels at least alongside Verstappen's mirror at this crucial point in the corner, he had earned the right to the racing space.
Red Bull and Verstappen disagreed. I do think team principal Christian Horner had a point when he said, 'I don't know where Max was supposed to go at that first corner.' Fighting for the lead into a first turn tighter than most on the calendar, collision or a penalty felt inevitable.
The whole thing led to Verstappen not just being cross after the race, but claiming he was afraid to speak his mind for fear of further penalties.
We wrote on Saturday that Norris' crash in qualifying would test his championship resolve. Well, he charged from P10 to P4 by the end. Test passed.
And, finally, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed to The Athletic that there have been no conversations with Verstappen about a potential move from Red Bull for 2026.
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