Charles Leclerc in tenth place and Lewis Hamilton down in eighteenth: after an already disappointing Sprint race, Ferrari failed to overturn its negative weekend in qualifying. On the sweeping corners of Lusail, the SF-25 revealed all its weaknesses: Charles Leclerc pushed to the limit in Q3 and ended up in a double spin, while Lewis Hamilton looked demotivated, adding a problem within the existing problem for the Scuderia.
The turnaround never arrived. Between the SF-25 and the flowing layout of the Losail International Circuit, no feeling ever developed. The setup changes started on Lewis Hamilton’s car before the Sprint, and then extended to both cars ahead of Grand Prix qualifying, did nothing to alter the bitter verdict delivered on Friday.
Once again, Lewis Hamilton walked into the interview pen while the other drivers were still fighting for the top ten on track: he finished eighteenth, eliminated already in Q1. Charles Leclerc did reach Q3, but with no fresh tyres left: the four available sets had all been used in the previous phases to scrape through the cut, and not without effort. The final result was tenth place, even behind Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
The car’s behaviour did not improve. In trying to squeeze more out of the machine than it could offer, Charles Leclerc had a frightening off-track moment that ended without damage only because Lusail has extremely forgiving run-off areas. “We gave everything,” Charles commented. “So far this has been a really tough weekend. We simply don’t have the pace with this car on this type of circuit, and in qualifying we struggled to put together competitive laps.”
The data is so clear that it leaves almost no room for optimism ahead of tomorrow’s race. “We can’t hide our disappointment,” Charles Leclerc reiterated. “I don’t have high expectations for tomorrow, but I’ll try to reset and, as always, I’ll give everything to bring home a good result for the team.”
Ferrari’s end to the season is sending unmistakable messages. The second place in the Constructors’ standings, which barely a month ago seemed like a target – even if a secondary one – now looks like a mirage. It is true that Lusail exposes the worst version of the SF-25, but it is still a regular track on the calendar, and there are no excuses for this.
Confirmed as well is the problem within the problem: Lewis Hamilton’s performance. At the end of Q1, Lewis was three and a half tenths slower than Leclerc, a gap large enough to explain the difference between Charles’s eighth-place time and Lewis’s eighteenth. The pattern is becoming familiar: frustration over the team radio, the slow trundle back to the pits, and the walk with lowered head toward the interview zone, where he struggles to explain what is happening. The first laps Lewis Hamilton completed in red at Fiorano last February now feel like distant archive footage, fragments from a completely different film.
In a week, the championship will be over. Lewis Hamilton – as he has emphasized several times – will switch off and spend weeks relaxing far from the world of engines. But one doubt will accompany him through the winter break, a question mark over the Lewis who will appear at the start of next season. This end of the year is turning into a nightmare that will not simply disappear under the chequered flag of Yas Marina.
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