The pressure began building long before qualifying, with team principal Fred Vasseur offering explanations for Ferrari’s stalled development path in 2025. However, given the team’s dramatic drop in competitiveness, those explanations are becoming increasingly difficult for chairman John Elkann to overlook, especially as rivals continue to move forward.
The qualifying session added further strain to the weekend. Lewis Hamilton, for the third time in succession across both race formats, failed to progress beyond Q1. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc managed to secure entry into Q3 but could not improve beyond tenth place on the grid for the Qatar Grand Prix, reinforcing the notion that the F1-25’s issues run deeper than setup alone.
Leclerc backs Lewis Hamilton’s verdict on Ferrari after another difficult qualifying
Despite his early elimination, Lewis Hamilton surprisingly maintained a positive tone when speaking in the media pen. He reportedly explained that the car felt much more composed than in previous sessions, even if the lap times failed to reflect any real progress. The seven-time world champion is understood to have felt that Ferrari had taken a step in the right direction—just not one substantial enough to keep them competitive.
When Charles Leclerc was questioned about his own struggles from the Sprint through to Grand Prix qualifying, the Monegasque detailed an unpredictable balance that has left him fighting the car at every phase of the corner. He described ongoing mid-corner understeer combined with sudden oversteer both on entry and exit, making the SF-25 extremely difficult to keep under control across long runs and qualifying simulations.
Charles Leclerc admitted that even pushing to the absolute limit offered little reward, with maximum commitment still resulting only in tenth place. Upon being informed of Lewis Hamilton’s comments, the Monegasque indicated that he agreed with Lewis Hamilton’s interpretation—suggesting that while the car occasionally feels reasonable from behind the wheel, the stopwatch ultimately exposes a significant lack of raw performance.
Leclerc reiterated that he had made substantial setup adjustments since the previous day, yet none of the changes delivered the additional grip or stability necessary to bridge the gap to the front. Ferrari’s deficit appears to be structural rather than situational, adding further weight to concerns that their early shift of attention toward future development has compromised their 2025 competitiveness.
Damon Hill reacts to Charles Leclerc’s dramatic Q2 spin at the Qatar GP
The unstable behaviour of the SF-25 was also evident to rivals. Pierre Gasly reportedly told Lewis Hamilton that the Ferrari looked “terrible” in the Sprint, a point reinforced during qualifying when Charles Leclerc lost control in Q2. A combination of understeer at turn-in and aggressive oversteer mid-corner sent Leclerc into a rapid double spin, demonstrating just how narrow the operating window of Ferrari’s car has become.
Former world champion Damon Hill reacted on social media after witnessing the incident, noting that the Ferrari appeared “frightening” to drive before the spin even occurred. Damon Hill suggested that Charles Leclerc was fortunate to escape without injury given how violently the car snapped, highlighting the severity of the handling issues that have plagued Ferrari throughout the weekend.
Despite the scare, Charles Leclerc managed to rejoin the circuit and complete another flying lap, salvaging a position in the top-10 shootout. However, the recovery lap did little to mask the reality that Ferrari’s problems in Qatar are systemic rather than circumstantial, raising further questions about their development direction and competitiveness for the remainder of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Leave a Reply