Lewis Hamilton will feature on the F1 podium before the season is over, that\u2019s the bold prediction from his team principal Fred Vasseur as the Briton\u2019s happiness returned at Monza.<\/p>\n
In his previous 18 seasons in Formula 1 before joining Ferrari, Hamilton has never once gone without at least one podium result. In fact, he\u2019s never had less than five.<\/p>\n
Will Lewis Hamilton feature on the podium in F1 2025?<\/p>\n
Vasseur is convinced Hamilton\u2019s first season with Ferrari will not put an end to that run.<\/p>\n
The Briton\u2019s Ferrari struggles have been widely documented with Hamilton<\/a> explaining at the Italian Grand Prix that he\u2019s \u201cstill not 100 per cent comfortable with the car\u201d and the \u201calien driving style\u201d required.<\/p>\n But in the midst of a mini resurgence after his alarming mid-season slump, Hamilton put in one of his better race weekends at Ferrari\u2019s home event as he qualified fifth, only to drop to P10 on the grid due to a penalty carried over from Zandvoort, and raced his way to sixth.<\/p>\n He was less than five seconds down on George Russell at the finish line, in a result that has boosted Vasseur\u2019s believe that Hamilton\u2019s first podium in red is on the horizon.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, because he was able to fight with Russell at Zandvoort and was able to come from P10 to the gearbox of Russell [at Monza],\u201d Vasseur told media PlanetF1.com\u2019s Thomas Maher and other media outlets when asked after the Italian Grand Prix if Hamilton could break his season\u2019s podium duck.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, we can expect to be on the podium.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, it started in Zandvoort last week, and it\u2019s difficult because the outcome of the weekend was not positive, but at the end of the day, the pace was better from the beginning compared to Charles.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mood was better during the race, he was fighting with Russell until Lap 30, and that means he was in a better position, and I think the energy he received from the Tifosi on Wednesday in Milan was something very special for him.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what he was expecting, but it was something mega, and this gave him an extra boost all weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cFor sure, we had to serve the penalty, and knew it would not be an easy one, but he came back, and the pace was there from the first lap of FP1.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton v Charles Leclerc: F1 2025 head-to-head stats<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n Amidst Hamilton\u2019s alarming pre-summer holiday slump, the seven-time World Champion\u2019s head dropped as cut a notably frustrated figure.<\/p>\n Eliminated in Q2 at the Hungaroring on the back of a double Q1 elimination in Belgium, the Briton told Sky F1: \u201cIt\u2019s me, every time. I\u2019m useless, absolutely useless.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team has no problems. You\u2019ve seen the [other] car is on pole.<\/p>\n \u201cThey probably need to change driver.\u201d<\/p>\n His happiness, though, returned with his Zandvoort and Monza performances, even if he did crash out of the Dutch Grand Prix.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy with the progress through the weekend,\u201d Hamilton said. \u201cI think the progress from last weekend, and then carried that through this week, and so I\u2019ve been relatively happy with the car, the progress.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, [F]P1, the car felt great. I think that\u2019s where it felt probably the best. Then we went into P2, we made changes into qualifying, and I think it was the most we could get from it.\u201d<\/p>\n That carried into Sunday\u2019s race where he reckons P5 was on the cards, saying: \u201cI positioned the car really nicely, made my way forwards, and I think I could have got fifth today.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I was 1.5 seconds behind George. We could have tried to undercut him. We missed that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton is up to 117 points in the Drivers\u2019 standings<\/a> where he is P6, one position but 46 points behind Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n