“It's going to be tricky”: Lewis Hamilton opens up on Chinese GP double disqualification consequences and unpredictable weather conditions for Japanese GP

Lewis Hamilton once again experienced a challenging qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix and only managed to finish eighth on the grid as lingering issues from the Chinese Grand Prix still haunt the Ferrari team. Both Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc were disqualified in Shanghai when their cars failed post-race scrutineering—Charles Leclerc's Ferrari due to it being underweight and Lewis Hamilton's car due to having too much plank wear.

Lewis Hamilton attributes Japanese GP woes to post-China setup adjustments

Lewis Hamilton blamed his underwhelming qualifying result for the #F1 #JapaneseGP on a "knock-on effect" from his disqualification in Shanghai two weeks ago 🔴🗣 https://t.co/c6FpoYuFNc pic.twitter.com/f9wpJEZdRp

— Mirror F1 (@MirrorF1) April 5, 2025

To avoid a repeat of the disqualification , Ferrari made precautionary modifications to the car's setup, the most important of which was to raise the ride height. That change brought the car into FIA compliance, but it lowered aerodynamic efficiency—an issue Lewis Hamilton complained about after Saturday's qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton was beset by understeer and conceded he couldn't get into the rhythm required to push the car hard in Q3.

“Obviously not good enough from my side, P8 is not great. I was happy to get into Q3, obviously, as it was a really tight battle out there with everyone. I just didn't get great laps in Q3,” he said. “We are running [the car] higher than we would like, but everyone is in the same boat in that respect. Particularly after the last race, we're a bit higher than we want to be, and that is the knock-on effect from the weekend that we had before.”

His teammate, Charles Leclerc, qualified fourth, having followed a different set-up approach that benefited him on the high-speed turns of Suzuka . “But Charles did an amazing lap today - we went in different directions with the setup and I had a lot of understeer and just couldn't dial it in throughout qualifying,” Hamilton added.

With rainy weather predicted for Sunday's race, Lewis Hamilton is pinning his hopes on rain to spice things up and provide him with an opportunity to battle his way through the pack. The seven-time world champion is known for his ability in wet conditions and feels there is scope for a turnaround if the heavens open. “I'm excited - I genuinely love the rain. It's going to be tricky, but usually when you have a qualifying like I just had, you hope for the rain. So I hope that it stays,” Hamilton said.

Also read: Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll warned for disobeying race director's pit lane instruction at Japanese GP

Hamilton's best performances of the year have come in volatile races, and a wet Suzuka could be just what he needs as he attempts to recover from another poor Saturday performance. As Ferrari adapts to the regulation woes and Hamilton tries to bounce back from a poor run, the focus will be on the weather and strategy when the lights go out in Japan.