Japanese GP: Ferrari ‘know they are in trouble’ as Lewis Hamilton slams qualifying session as ‘not good enough’

Jacques Villeneuve, a past winner of the Formula One world championship, has stated that Ferrari “knows they are in trouble” following a disappointing beginning to the 2025 season. Hamilton, who was in his first year with the Scuderia after arriving from Mercedes, where he won seven world titles, qualified eighth for the Japanese Grand Prix, and his teammate Charles Leclerc qualified fourth. This came two weeks after both drivers were disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix. A sprint victory in China has been the pinnacle of Hamilton’s Ferrari spell so far. Before Sunday’s race at Suzuka, he and Leclerc finished in tenth and eighth place, respectively, in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Both of them are still sitting on single-figure point hauls. In an interview with Sky Sports F1, Illeneuve, who won the world championship with Williams in 1997, said, “They are aware that they are in trouble and do not know how to get better.” Because they are aware that the competition is likely to improve, it does not appear that Ferrari will have a bright future. Hamilton: I do not consider this to be satisfactory. After qualifying, Hamilton expressed his dissatisfaction with his performance, stating that it was “not good enough from my side.” He ended up finishing more than six tenths behind Max Verstappen, who unexpectedly took the pole position. Verstappen, who drives for Red Bull, broke the lap record at Suzuka with a time of 1:26.983, which allowed him to take the top slot away from Lando Norris, who was leading the championship for McLaren.