Why Ferrari was ‘completely blind’ following Lewis Hamilton’s British GP

Hindsight is always 20/20, and when it comes to evaluating Lewis Hamilton’s pit stop timing during the British Grand Prix, it seems likely that pitting one lap earlier or later could have netted the driver his first podium for Ferrari.

But Fred Vasseur has revealed that Hamilton’s GPS wasn’t working throughout the race, which made it all the more challenging to craft the ideal strategy.

Lewis Hamilton GPS failure left Ferrari “completely blind”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Lewis Hamilton’s debut with Scuderia Ferrari has gotten off to something of a rocky start.

The ground-breaking partnership kicked off at the start of the F1 2025 season, and while Hamilton has scored points in every Grand Prix (with the exception of his disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix), the seven-time World Champion’s highest finishing position has been fourth — a position he secured in Imola, Austria, and Britain.

But could a better pit stop strategy have enabled Hamilton to secure his first podium with the Scuderia? It’s likely.

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Hamilton qualified fifth on the grid for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and was able to survive wet conditions and a handful of restarts to bring his SF-25 home just outside of the podium position.

But, as data has revealed, a handful of mistakes on Hamilton’s part after his final pit stop likely cost him a shot at challenging Nico Hulkenberg for third place.

The issue was that when Hamilton pitted on Lap 41 to swap from intermediate to slick tyres, the racing surface at Silverstone was still quite damp. It was drying quickly, but when the Ferrari driver hit the track, he found himself sliding during his out lap, which cost him precious time.

Team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged to media, including PlanetF1.com, that “I think you can say now that it was probably one lap too early, also because that he went straight in Turns 3-4 and lost four or five seconds in these two corners” after the race.

However, the Frenchman did point out that F1 strategy is a game of anticipation and risk — and sometimes, it just doesn’t work out.

“I think it was Alonso who pitted before,” Vasseur noted, “and it was already faster on some corners than all the guys on intermediate.

“It’s the kind of situation that if you want that the others are doing the move before you, it’s always too late. And I think it’s quite easy after the race to say that first pit stop could have been better to stop one lap before; the second pit stop to stop one lap later.

“But honestly, on this, when you have to take the decision on the pit wall, it’s a very tricky one, because you always have to be into the anticipation.”

It’s a challenging enough feat on a standard race weekend, but the changeable conditions at Silverstone only increased the difficulty in determining the ideal time to come in for a tyre swap.

The other problem?

“We lost the GPS of Lewis all the race,” Vasseur admitted. “It means that we are completely blind and didn’t know where the car was. It was a difficult one.”

While that might seem like a minor hiccup, GPS plays a critical role in modern Formula 1. A driver’s specific position on the track influences the team’s pit stop strategy.

For example, if rain is predicted within the next five minutes, a team may instruct its driver to hold on for another lap before pitting if he’s close to beginning that lap. If he’s farther away on the circuit, it might make more sense to pit at the end of the lap he’s on.

But as with any race impacted by Mother Nature, making the right call even with GPS is difficult.

At the end of the day, fourth for Hamilton was a strong result — but the driver nevertheless spoke at length about just how difficult the car still is, particularly in wet conditions. He’s noted that he intends to speak with the designers of the 2026 car to ensure improvements are made.

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