17/05/2025

SATURDAY | MAY 17, 2025

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SPORTS

‘I didn’t know how tough it would be’ Hamilton makes shock admission ahead of first race in Italy for Ferrari Ű BY KIERAN JACKSON

T HIS was not how the opening salvo was meant to go. A dozen races in, Lewis Hamilton’s first race in Italy for Ferrari was meant to be a grand intro duction for F1’s most famous driver and the sport’s most fabled team. Yet across six rounds and three continents, the lofty pre-season expectations have fallen horribly short. Hamilton has finished in the top five just once and lies a whopping 90 points behind surprise championship leader Oscar Piastri. The nuts and bolts of it are that Ferrari, at the moment, do not have the pace to keep up with McLaren and, the results say, the Scuderia are currently the fourth-quickest team on the grid. For Hamilton, two months on from his debut in Australia, it has been one astonishing eye-opener. “I anticipated it would be very tough, because I’ve joined a team before,” Hamilton said, referencing his move from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013, he said in Imola yesterday. “I came in with a really open mind. I didn’t know how tough it was going to be. I knew it was going to be challenging. It’s as challenging as it could ever be. On all fronts.” The lowest point so far came in China, when Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc – 12 points ahead, incidentally – were both disqualified for failing post-race technical checks. But the last round in Miami ran it close. A lack of clarity and decisiveness has been a prominent feature of Ferrari races in recent

years and Hamilton’s arrival has not put a stop to that. His exasperation with delayed calls from engineer Riccardo Adami resulted in a string of firm and sarcastic responses. Hamilton’s best performance thus far came in the sprint race in Shanghai, securing an impressive pole position before strolling to victory. Yet only eight points are on offer for the winner, equivalent to sixth place in the grand prix. Hamilton has usually finished lower than that. So the question must be asked: with 18 races to go and the gap to runaway leaders McLaren considerably stark, is his 2025 title hopes over already? “Championship? There’s still a long, long way to go,” Hamilton said. “From all

behind at this point in the season, with a car that’s up against a car that’s quite dominant, you have to assume that you’re not necessarily fighting for the win in the championship. But things could turn around. We’ve never seen that happen.” Indeed, we haven’t. In fact, in the current points format, the biggest deficit overturned by a champion came in 2012, when Sebastian Vettel won the championship having trailed by 39 points with seven races left. Of course, right now, there’s plenty more points left on the table. But the likelihood is that Piastri’s lead over Hamilton will be into triple figures by Sunday afternoon. “At the moment, I can’t tell you whether we’re going to gain four tenths, half a second, a second by the end of the season,” Hamilton added. “We want to get closer to those things. At the moment, we can’t shut the door to any idea. We have to keep our eyes and our heads up. We have to stay vigilant.” Despite the issues at hand, and the gap to Piastri and second-placed teammate Lando Norris, Hamilton won’t allow Ferrari to wallow. The 40-year-old was present at the factory in Maranello on Wednesday, keen to eek out a route back to contention. The SF-25 car will have a raft of upgrades on it this weekend and, if they work, perhaps a race win in front of the thousands of tifosi supporters on Sunday is not out of the question. – The Independent

the years of experience, w h e n you’re over

Lewis Hamilton. – REUTERSPIC

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points

Antonelli brings school to Imola track KIMI ANTONELLI has not been able to attend school since he became a Mercedes Formula One driver so the 18-year-old brought his classmates to the racetrack ahead of his home debut this weekend. “We’ve organised some activities... I’ll show them the car and explain a bit, without going too much into detail. “It’s a good way to keep the relationship because I don’t spend much time at home, so I don’t see them often.”

Jobs

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said the rookie. “But it’s not easy, because that also takes energy and effort. Especially ahead of such an important weekend, it’s really important to manage that side, not to do too much in order to save energy. “But whenever I’m home or have a bit of time off, I try to do a little bit just to keep active and catch up as much as possible.” Antonelli, who took the place of seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton when the Briton moved to Ferrari in January, is the top rookie this season after scoring in five of his six races so far. – Reuters “I haven’t been having the best results on course lately over the last few months and been working really hard to turn that around,” said Davis. “And to see the first real sign that it’s turning around happen in the first round of a major, it’s very encouraging.” Sitting three shots back of Vegas in a share of fourth place is a group of five players that included 47-year-old European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox. While some familiar players are in contention, there were no top-10 golfers in the world among the top 10 on the leaderboard which, according to Elias Sports Bureau, is only the second time that has happened dating back to 1994. When it comes to some of the game’s bigger names, twice major winner Scottie Scheffler carded a 69, US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau shot an even-par 71 while Jordan Spieth opened his bid to complete the career Grand Slam with a 76. – Reuters

The Bologna-born driver is enjoying staying at home for the race at Imola, a drive east along the Roman Via Emilia, but bracing for plenty of attention as Italy’s sole driver in Ferrari’s backyard. “We were able to organise this for the school,” he said after his entire class turned up in the paddock on Thursday. “I think it’s a good way for them to see with their own eyes this world. VENEZUELA’S JHONATTAN Vegas used a late birdie blitz to grab his first career lead in a major after the first round of the PGA Championship yesterday while Rory McIlroy struggled in his first major since completing the career Grand Slam. Vegas stormed up the leaderboard with five birdies over his final six holes for a 7-under 64 at North Carolina’s Quail Hollow Club that left him two shots clear of Australian Cam Davis and little-known American Ryan Gerard. The 40-year-old Vegas felt the course, which was saturated by heavy rain this week, dried up as the day went on and allowed him to take advantage of better scoring conditions. “I got lucky that I was able to tee off very late and the course obviously is drying very quick,” Vegas said after becoming the first Venezuelan to hold the lead or co-lead in a major. “So I was able to take advantage a little bit of those conditions at the end of the day today. But obviously a solid

Antonelli still intends to take his Maturita , the Italian high school diploma exam, and has been working on it. “I’m trying to study as much as I can, especially in those little moments I have free. I’m getting help from the school as well to try and catch up because I’ve definitely missed a lot of work during this time,” round from beginning to end. Good way to start.” Vegas, a four-times winner on the PGA Tour, snatched the outright lead with an 18-foot birdie putt at his penultimate hole, the par-four eighth, and then padded his lead when he drained a 26-footer at his final hole. Much had been made about McIlroy’s chances this week given his past success at Quail Hollow and because he ended a near 11-year drought at majors with a Masters win last month that freed him from the burden of chasing the career Grand Slam. But the Northern Irishman struggled mightily off the tee and did not address the media after posting a disappointing 3-over 74 that left him well off the pace. Davis, who earlier this year missed five consecutive cuts, started his round before Vegas and was the outright leader before a bogey at his final hole left him level with Gerard.

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