Lewis Hamilton described it as an “incredible battle” trying to get the best out of his Ferrari car, while Charles Leclerc said Ferrari had had an “incredibly difficult” weekend on a testing Saturday for the team at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Hamilton made the comments after Saturday’s 19-lap sprint. After initially qualifying only 18th for this sprint, he started from the pit lane due to setup changes. He finished 17th, moving up just one place, and said on the radio afterwards: “I don’t know how I got the car so bad.”
Teammate Charles Leclerc also started in the top 10, but despite sticking to his qualifying setup, he struggled and ran off the track multiple times, dropping him to 13th place.
Despite another set-up change to the SF-25, Ferrari’s woes, and especially Hamilton’s, continued in qualifying.
Hamilton once again qualified 18th, and Leclerc once again moved into the top 10, but a large high-speed spin on the first lap at Turn 15 meant he was slowest in Q3.
Asked to explain the problems with the car after the sprint, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: “We don’t have any stability.
“Now that you mention it, the rear end is not planted, so it often slips or breaks.
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Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were left perplexed by changes made to their Ferrari cars as they struggled in the Qatar GP sprint
“Then you get bounce, so when you go into a corner like Turn 10, the car starts bouncing, and there’s a lot of understeer in the middle of the corner, and when you get the steering wheel, it snaps and tries to catch.”
“The low speed, medium speed, and high speed (speed) are different. It’s an unbelievable battle.”
Leclerc said after qualifying, “Unfortunately, there’s a little bit of everything.
“We had some understeer in the middle of the corner and oversteer on the entry and exit. It was an incredibly difficult race weekend just to drive the car and keep it on the track.”
“It’s frustrating to take maximum risks and still get a good lap only to get 10th and nothing more.”
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2025 Qatar GP F1 Sprint Highlights
Ferrari struggles in Qatar, leaving team in 4th place
Hamilton said the car actually felt more compliant at the start of the late qualifying session following the latest round of changes, but said his last attempt in Q1 did not go well. Ferrari cited traffic congestion as a factor in its official press release.
“The car felt a lot better, but it just didn’t reflect the conditions at the time,” Hamilton said. Hamilton has now fallen at the first hurdle in the past three qualifying sessions in either format, with his last finish in the top ten of the grid coming at the Mexico City Grand Prix on October 25.
“The car felt good. To be honest, the car felt a lot better than it did the rest of the weekend. We were looking okay, but we just didn’t get there the last lap.”
In response to his teammate’s comments, Leclerc said: “I agree with Lewis’ feelings.
“The car feels very good and it doesn’t feel like we’re off the pace that much, but when you look at the timing, we’re very, very, very far away.
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Qatar GP qualifying highlights
“It’s just the performance of the car at the moment and we’re not where we want to be. We’ve changed the car quite a bit since yesterday, but we couldn’t get any more out of it.”
Ferrari’s failure to score points in the sprint makes it even more likely that F1’s oldest team will finish fourth in this year’s constructors’ championship.
Mercedes, with George Russell starting the race fourth on the grid and Kimi Antonelli fifth, will have a four-point lead over third-placed Red Bull with Max Verstappen and will be able to secure second place with one round to spare on Sunday unless Ferrari overtakes them by more than 21 points.
Meanwhile, third-placed Red Bull opened up a 22-point lead over Ferrari.
Sky Sports F1 Qatar GP Schedule
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A look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Saturday, November 29th
5:15pm: Qatar GP qualifying build-up
6pm: Qatar GP Qualifying
8pm: Ted’s Qualification Notebook
Sunday, November 30th
11:55am: F2 Special
2:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP Build-up
4pm: Qatar Grand Prix
6pm: Checkered flag: Qatar GP reaction
7pm: Ted’s Notes
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
F1’s season-ending triple-header will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 over the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint weekend. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
