Lewis Hamilton labels ground-effect era ‘the worst’ as major Leclerc admission made

It’s safe to say Lewis Hamilton isn’t enamoured with the current ground-effect regulations in Formula 1…

Lewis Hamilton’s struggles for performance may not end for some time, the seven-time F1 World Champion has warned.

Aside from a stellar performance in the Chinese GP Sprint event, Hamilton has been shown a clean pair of heels by his teammate Charles Leclerc – and that situation won’t change any time soon, according to Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton: Ground effect is ‘the worst’

Hamilton’s inability to harness performance from his machinery has been a problem that seems to have become more and more pronounced as the current ground-effect rules – introduced in 2022 – have matured.

Alongside George Russell at Mercedes, it was the younger British driver who began to come out on top through 2023 and ’24, particularly in qualifying performances, before Hamilton opted to move away from Mercedes to take on a new challenge at Ferrari.

But his move to the Scuderia has seen the story continue in much the same vein. Leclerc leads the qualifying head-to-head 4-1 over Hamilton, while Leclerc leads on points with 47 to Hamilton’s 31 – a gap which would have been larger had both not been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix.

In Saudi Arabia, Leclerc qualified in fourth place and raced to the podium, while Hamilton was over half a second down in qualifying en route to seventh place. He finished in the same position, over 30 seconds behind Leclerc, having run the same strategy as his teammate.

Hamilton has been open and honest about his struggles for performance, saying that he needs a “brain transplant” to improve, as well as revealing that he “knows the bosses are not happy” as he chases performance.

Speaking after the Saudi Arabian GP, Hamilton said that he’s hopeful the pending end of the current ground-effect rules may have an impact as F1 2026 shakes up the rulebook significantly.

“The worst, yeah,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com, when asked for his thoughts on ground-effect.

“With less ground-effects, let’s hope things that things shift.

“I really don’t know. I don’t know anything about next year’s car, so I’m not spending any time to think about it.Lewis Hamilton: Charles Leclerc doing a better job

The ground-effect regulations do not reward late-braking drivers like Hamilton, or the likes of Daniel Ricciardo – whose career has come to an apparent end during this rules cycle – with the cars requiring smoother, earlier braking in order to maintain the under-car aerodynamic suction ground-effect delivers.

Drivers unable to maintain this seal can thus struggle for mid-corner performance, and this is exactly the area Hamilton admits he’s struggling compared to Leclerc.

“He’s been driving this car for a long time, so he’s definitely knows it really well,” he said.

“There’s plenty in the data, for sure. Honestly, like, it doesn’t look massively different in the data. I just take it slower through the corners.

“In qualifying, it’s me extracting performance, and, in the race today, I literally tried everything, and the car just didn’t want to work with us.

“I’m just trying things to make a difference. I think I’ll struggle also in Miami. I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna struggle for, but it’s definitely painful.”

With F1 now having a two-week gap until the next race, the opportunity to withdraw and regroup for the next race in Miami does gives teams a chance to implement some changes, if needed, but Hamilton said he doubts much will change for the race around the Hard Rock Stadium.

“I don’t anticipate that, but we do have slightly different setups,” he said.

“I have to look and see whether that setup is that’s the way the car likes to be set. Him and his side are definitely doing a better job.”