Frédéric Vasseur has analyzed Ferrari’s difficulties in Qatar, explaining how a forced strategy prevented the team from making its way back through the field. The weekend at Lusail once again exposed the mismatch between the characteristics of the Ferrari SF-25 and the layout of the Qatari circuit. Both drivers struggled from Friday onward, and the various attempts to radically change the car’s setup proved useless. Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur also highlighted one more key factor that stopped Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc from recovering during the race.
According to Vasseur, the poor performance was the result of a combination of several factors. The car itself carried part of the responsibility, but external circumstances did not help the Scuderia either. At the chequered flag, Charles Leclerc finished eighth, while Lewis Hamilton ended the race in twelfth place despite a strong start.
The worst possible scenario for Vasseur
The Qatar Grand Prix was heavily influenced by the mandatory stint limit: no tyre set could be used for more than 25 laps. With 57 laps scheduled, this produced a seven-lap gap that forced every team into a two-stop strategy. This is exactly the aspect that Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur focused on when discussing the Qatar race.
“We said before the race that the worst-case scenario was a Safety Car on lap seven,” he said with a smile. “Because then you have 50 laps to go, and that means everyone will stop on lap 32 to complete the final 25 laps with the two fresh sets we have available,” he added while speaking to the media, including ScuderiaFans.com.
Virtually nobody in the midfield managed to pull off overtakes, and positions remained frozen throughout the race due to everyone running the exact same strategy. Fred Vasseur pointed to George Russell as an example: he spent several laps stuck in traffic, yet once he finally got some clean air, he was lapping a full second faster.
The characteristics of the circuit
Another major issue came directly from the track layout, which made overtaking extremely complicated. The DRS activation zone on the main straight was shortened by 150 meters, a decision that had already sparked discussions after the Sprint. While this does not erase the clear lack of top speed from the Ferrari in Qatar, it added extra constraints that made the situation even more difficult.
“On this track it is difficult to overtake,” Fred Vasseur added. “The tyre degradation yesterday [in the Sprint] was 0.02 seconds per lap. That means it is lower than the effect of the fuel load decreasing. There is basically no degradation between the cars. The limitation was mainly the dirty air rather than anything else.” – the French manager concluded at the end of the 2025 F1 Qatar Grand Prix
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