Lewis Hamilton faces "a massive challenge" to regain his shattered qualifying confidence even when he begins his new adventure with Ferrari . The seven-time F1 champion is one of the best qualifiers the sport has ever seen and holds the record for most pole positions won. But this season he has struggled for one-lap pace and has been comprehensively beaten by Mercedes team-mate George Russell .
The younger Brit has outqualified his compatriot 20 times in 2024 across Grands Prix and Sprints, while Hamilton has only secured a higher grid slot than Russell on six occasions. At Monza in September, after he qualified sixth, the 39-year-old said qualifying has become his "weakness" and claimed he is "not very good" at it. For Karun Chandhok , rebuilding that confidence over one lap will be Ferrari's biggest challenge when the Brit joins next year.
And the Sky Sports F1 pundit told Mirror Sport he believes it will be even tougher for Hamilton when up against who he believes is the best qualifier in the sport. Chandhok said: "It is going to be a massive challenge for him. Charles, I have often said, is the best qualifier, fastest over one lap on the current grid, I believe.
In 2026, we do not know what the cars are going to be like. Maybe Ferrari are going to be so dominant that you can be three tenths behind and still be on the front row. It could happen.
"But for ‘25, I think Lewis and Ferrari are going to have to work quite hard to rediscover their qualifying form and build up t.
