Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari driver and team assess remaining 2025 podium prospects ahead of Azerbaijan GP

Lewis Hamilton's wait for the first podium of his Ferrari career rolls on to this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the seven-time world champion now having eight races left of his first season in red to maintain a proud and long-standing F1 career record.

Hamilton has finished on the podium in every one of his 18 seasons up to this year but, so far, attempts to extend his run into a record-extending 19th year have proved frustratingly fruitless in 2025's opening 16 grands prix.

The 40-year-old, though, does head to Baku after the apparent boost of his first experience of being a Ferrari driver at their home Italian Grand Prix when he said he felt he made "solid progress" in trying to get on top of their SF-25 car.

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On a weekend when he already knew a five-place grid penalty would apply, carried over from the previous race in Zandvoort, Hamilton maintained a positive momentum all through the Monza weekend - both in and out of the car.

He originally qualified in fifth place, one position and one tenth of a second behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc, and, once his five-place penalty had been applied, raced well from 10th on the grid to finish sixth.

It represented Hamilton's eighth top-six finish of his disappointing first Ferrari season, but fourth places at Imola, the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone from before the summer break still represent his best results on a Sunday.

'If we do an exceptional job...' - Hamilton assesses podium hopes

Speaking after he had finished four seconds behind former Mercedes team-mate George Russell at Monza, Hamilton said he had "definitely felt on top of the car" during the race having made up early ground from his penalised fifth-row starting spot.

However, with Leclerc finishing 25 seconds behind the race-winning Red Bull of Max Verstappen on a home weekend when Ferrari had hoped to be contenders, Hamilton remained cautious about his chances of returning to the top three before the season was out.

Asked if he had the car to fight for podiums in the forthcoming races, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "I don't think so.

"[On Sunday in Monza] Charles was giving it everything. We've got Max that is up there now.

"We don't have the pace of Red Bull - they were rapid - and we don't have the pace of McLaren So currently I think we are fourth, fifth.

"If we do an exceptional job we can maybe get a podium here and there. There's definitely a chance that we have that at some point, but in terms of pure pace we don't currently have that."

Where might Ferrari's best remaining tracks come?

Alongside Hamilton's quest for a first Ferrari podium is the Scuderia's wider bid to get back to race-winning ways for the first time in almost a year having not won since last October's Mexico City Grand Prix.

The Scuderia remain the only one of F1's leading four teams without a Grand Prix win in 2025, despite sitting second ahead of Mercedes (one win) and Red Bull (three wins) in the Constructors' Championship, although Leclerc has at least recorded five podium appearances.

They last went winless through a whole season in 2021.

So where might the SF-25 have a chance of contending at the front for a win, and therefore the podium too?

"Singapore, maybe Baku and Las Vegas are maybe the tracks we are a bit closer to win a race," suggested Leclerc.

"But I think we are third favourites - maybe if Red Bull struggles maybe second but never the first ones so it will always be quite uphill and difficult."

Vasseur expecting Hamilton to end podium wait

Hamilton's Ferrari team boss, Frederic Vasseur, is backing the seven-time champion to return to the top three before the season is out.

"Yeah, because [the fact] that he was able to fight with Russell in Zandvoort, to come back from P10 to the gearbox of Russell [at Monza]. Russell was a couple of times on the podium [this season]," said Vasseur.

"Yes, we can expect to be on the podium."

Also citing this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix - where Leclerc has claimed the last four pole positions - as a venue that traditionally suits Ferrari's car, Vasseur added that while their main priority was to now finish second in the McLaren-dominated Constructors' Championship, they also want to claim at least one 2025 race win.

"I think we have a couple of tracks where we are supposed to be also in a good shape, starting with the next one," he said. "We are historically always in a good shape in Baku.

"But, for sure, it's the goal [to win a race], the goal also is now to finish P2 in the championship [in which] McLaren is on another planet.

"We are fighting with Red Bull and Merc and the target for the team is to finish P2. The first target is to finish P2 and then to win races."

Ferrari head to Baku with advantages of 20 points over third-placed Mercedes and 41 points over fourth-placed Red Bull. McLaren can clinch the constructors' title if results go their way on Sunday.

Sky Sports F1's Azerbaijan GP schedule

Thursday September 18
11am: Drivers' Press Conference
2.45pm: Paddock Uncut

Friday September 19
6.55am: F2 Practice
9am: Azerbaijan GP Practice One (session starts at 9.30am)*
10.55am: F2 Qualifying
11.40am: Team Principals' Press Conference
12.45pm: Azerbaijan GP Practice Two (session starts at 1pm)*
2.15pm: The F1 Show*

Saturday September 20
9.15am: Azerbaijan GP Practice Three (session starts at 9.30am)
11.10am: F2 Sprint Race
12.15pm: Azerbaijan GP Qualifying build-up
1pm: AZERBAIJAN GP QUALIFYING
3pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook

Sunday September 21
7.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Azerbaijan GP build-up*
12pm: THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX*
2pm: Chequered Flag: Azerbaijan GP reaction
3pm: Ted's Notebook

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 heads to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime

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