Lewis Hamilton points out 'phenomenal' F1 reality as differences highlighted

Lewis Hamilton has spoken of the "phenomenal" reality of F1 teams being so closely matched, despite their different approaches to building cars.

At the recent Italian Grand Prix, in the final segment of qualifying, the top 10 were separated by just 0.500s. 

That gap between Pierre Gasly on pole and Arvid Lindblad in 10th eclipsed the previous record from the 2025 Hungarian GP. There, Charles Leclerc's pole time was 0.543s faster than Isack Hadjar in 10th. 

Whilst the field spread between the front-running teams and the midfield teams can be quite large on occasion, the intra-fights between the two can be close from weekend to weekend.

Given the complexity of building and designing a car, especially in the first year of a new set of regulations, Hamilton feels the difference between teams' approaches and the reality of on-track performance is quite "phenomenal."

"I think the positive thing, the opportunistic thing for a new driver coming in with experience, who has experienced two different teams, when you come from outside, when you’re in it, it’s sometimes hard to see the wood for the trees," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365. 

"And it’s when someone comes in, even if new engineers come in from different places, straight away they say, 'Oh, we did this differently,' and not necessarily that’s a better way, but it’s just sometimes different approaches.

"It’s quite phenomenal, really, if you think that all these teams have the same rules. 

"They do everything differently to get to the same sort of… and then the cars on track are within a tenth. 

"It's quite phenomenal, and that’s really what makes our sport so great." 

The article continues below. 

Hamilton's comments before closest-ever finish

As for Hamilton's Ferrari team, he believes that turning the team into a championship challenger is not just the work of him as an individual.

"There’s no “I” in team. I think it’s like a huge ship and it’s the driver’s job to work alongside the head figures to try and steer it in the right direction," he said.

"I think the positive thing, the opportunistic thing for a new driver coming in with experience, who has experienced two different teams, when you come from outside, when you’re in it, it’s sometimes hard to see the wood for the trees."