The Sprint Race in Qatar was, without sugarcoating, a complete disaster for Ferrari, with both drivers finishing outside the top 10. Beyond the results, the real concern lies in the lap times and the drivers’ feedback. On the team radio, Charles Leclerc admitted that he “feared hitting the wall on the first lap,” while Lewis Hamilton expressed disbelief, questioning “how we managed to make the car worse.” These two statements alone capture the mood of Ferrari’s drivers as they dealt with an extremely problematic SF-25.
Pilots struggle as Ferrari misses the optimal window
After the 19-lap Sprint Race, both drivers spoke briefly to media representatives, providing a clear picture of the difficulties Ferrari faced during the first two days in Qatar. The team will need to find a solution to set the SF-25 within a better operating window, aiming for at least a points finish. “It was a disaster,” Charles Leclerc stated. “I don’t know what happened. I thought something had broken at the rear, but that wasn’t the case. We lost something at the front, but that doesn’t explain the feeling in the first laps where I was just trying to keep the car on track,” he explained, giving a raw and direct assessment of the situation. “I almost lost the car in turn 2 and couldn’t regain grip. We need to analyze what happened. In FP1 we tried some things that didn’t work, but here I don’t know. The car has gotten worse since yesterday and we don’t know why. The setup is completely wrong, we need to try something very different for tonight,” Charles Leclerc concluded. There is little doubt about the plan for Qualifying: “We need a massive change to the car because with this one we can’t do better.”
Hamilton frustrated but committed
Lewis Hamilton’s mood was even more negative, as he continues to struggle through a spiral of increasingly difficult results. Responding to Mara Sangiorgio, Lewis Hamilton sarcastically remarked that he would rather be elsewhere, in Hawaii, surfing. But as he admitted, the reality is the need to recover and push forward. “It’s been a tough year, and I can’t wait to see my family and regain my energy,” he said. The seven-time world champion emphasized that everyone, from himself to every single team member, is trying to improve the situation. “Yesterday at 6 AM I was still awake, unable to sleep because I was trying to find solutions for my engineers to improve the car. I feel a lot of pain for them because they deserve better. Even while answering questions, I think about what I can do better to help the team. I can assure you that the effort is there and we won’t give up. Despite all the difficulties, I still have a lot of positive energy, and we will continue to push.”
Lewis Hamilton also revealed in various interviews that Pierre Gasly, who spent the entire race behind him, approached him afterward. “He told me the Ferrari looked terrible from the outside,” the British driver said.
Technical issues with the SF-25
Delving into the details of today’s problems, Lewis Hamilton revisited the chronic issues of the SF-25. “We don’t have stability. The rear is not planted, it slides and snaps suddenly, a lot. On top of that, we have bouncing, and there is significant understeer in mid-corner.” The situation he described is similar, but worse, than what Max Verstappen has experienced. “When you get on the throttle, the rear breaks loose. The car behaves differently in slow, medium, and fast corners. It’s a constant struggle.”
The former Mercedes driver added that the team had found some solutions in the simulator and tried to implement them on the car, but the direction was clearly wrong, highlighting some correlation issues. Qualifying will show whether, as happened in Austin, the team can turn the situation around and recover performance before the main race.
