Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari frustrations deepened Sunday in Baku, where a late miscue with Charles Leclerc and another finish outside the podium underscored a season slipping further from expectations – while his former teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. was spraying champagne with Williams.
Hamilton finished eighth in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, one spot ahead of Leclerc, after failing to give the place back on the final lap.
Earlier, Leclerc had moved aside to let Hamilton chase McLaren’s Lando Norris on fresher tires, but Ferrari ordered the swap reversed before the checkered flag. The message came too late, Hamilton admitted.
"Basically I did lift on the straight and even braked, but he (Leclerc) missed it by about four-tenths,” Hamilton said. "That was just a misjudgment on my part. I’ll apologize to Charles.”
Team boss Fred Vasseur said Hamilton appeared to have misjudged the position of the start/finish line, while Leclerc brushed it off. "Honestly, for a P8 or P9 it’s not going to be a big talking point,” the Monegasque said. "It’s not like I’d have been much happier being P8.”
Still, Hamilton’s wait for a first Ferrari podium grows heavier.
The seven-time champion called the weekend "disappointing,” noting Ferrari had looked promising in Friday practice before fading. "I felt good in the car, but we went in the wrong direction,” he said. "Our race pace just wasn’t on par. It was so hard to overtake.”
Leclerc, who crashed in qualifying and started 10th, crossed ninth. Both Ferrari drivers remain winless in 2025 beyond Hamilton’s sprint triumph in China – a victory overshadowed by a double disqualification the next day that exposed lingering setup issues.
The contrast was stark in Baku.
While Hamilton wrestled with misfires at Ferrari, Sainz – replaced by Hamilton over the winter – delivered Williams its first podium since 2021 with a gritty third place. The Spaniard called it "even better” than his maiden top-three and proof of Williams’ long-term vision.
"I think out of everyone that’s changed teams, I’ve been competitive from the first race, but I didn’t have results to show it,” Sainz said. "Now they’ve come.”