The 2025 Qatar Grand Prix weekend delivered one of the most sobering single-lap performances from Ferrari in recent memory. When the fastest lap from every single session – practice, qualifying and the race – is combined, Ferrari ended up slower than seven other teams. This is the first time since the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix that the Scuderia have been beaten on ultimate one-lap pace by every constructor except their two customer teams, Haas and Sauber.
Fastest lap time of the weekend for each team (all sessions combined)
| Pos | Team | Fastest lap (approx.) | Gap to fastest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLaren | 79.20 s | — |
| 2 | Red Bull | 79.40 s | +0.20 s |
| 3 | Mercedes | 79.60 s | +0.40 s |
| 4 | Racing Bulls | 79.80 s | +0.60 s |
| 5 | Aston Martin | 80.00 s | +0.80 s |
| 6 | Williams | 80.20 s | +1.00 s |
| 7 | Alpine | 80.30 s | +1.10 s |
| 8 | Ferrari | 80.40 s | +1.20 s |
| 9 | Sauber | 80.50 s | +1.30 s |
| 10 | Haas | 80.60 s | +1.40 s |
Note: Times are visually approximated from the official weekend chart for clarity. McLaren set the absolute benchmark just inside 79.2 seconds.
McLaren were untouchable across the Losail weekend, posting the fastest single lap of any team in any session. Red Bull and Mercedes completed a familiar-looking top three, while Racing Bulls once again showed impressive one-lap form.
The real shock comes further down. Williams continued their strong late-2025 resurgence with the sixth-quickest ultimate lap, while Alpine – a team that has struggled for much of the season – managed to place both cars ahead of Ferrari on pure pace.
Charles Leclerc did everything he could to mask the SF-25’s shortcomings, dragging it into Q3 and admitting afterwards that the car had “zero performance” over a single lap. Even his best effort, and Lewis Hamilton’s, left Ferrari eighth overall – beaten not only by the usual frontrunners but also by Aston Martin, Williams and Alpine.
A painful flashback to 2021
This is Ferrari’s least competitive one-lap weekend relative to the field since the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix, when new floor regulations exposed similar weaknesses and they also finished behind seven teams, with only Haas and the then Alfa Romeo-branded Sauber slower.
Four-and-a-half years later, the desert night in Qatar produced an almost identical story – a stark reminder that, even in the closing stages of the 2025 championship battle, Maranello can still have weekends where the car simply lacks the outright single-lap speed to compete at the sharp end.
