Qatar GP Sprint qualifying: Hamilton and Leclerc struggle onboard
As anticipated in our weekend preview, Ferrari faced a complex task, with numerous problems to solve in very limited time. The single practice session made it even harder to fine-tune the setup on track; additional sessions would have been needed to perfect the car’s performance.
From a handling perspective, the deficiencies were noticeable from the first laps. Onboard analysis revealed unusually high understeer: mid-corner, drivers had to apply a much larger steering angle compared to rivals. This not only affected tire surface temperature but also compromised the car’s exit positioning from corners.
Under acceleration, the car becomes unsettled, forcing drivers to modulate the throttle carefully, losing time between corners. Aerodynamically, Ferrari experimented with different levels of downforce to improve balance, trying to unload the SF-25 to shift the center of pressure forward and increase front-end grip. Despite these efforts, rotation remained insufficient.
SF-25’s fundamental flaw persists throughout the season
Another critical factor, likely responsible for much of the lap-time deficit, was tire management. Data from the first practice session shows the SF-25 consistently losing ground in sector one, with the gap growing significantly, while the remainder of the lap saw the deficit stabilize. This clearly indicated an issue with activating the tires effectively.
During qualifying, this negative trend persisted: the car continued to struggle with tire performance, particularly during the warmup phase needed to bring the Soft compounds up to optimal temperature. Between turn 1 and turn 2, the car lost nearly two and a half tenths—enough to compromise a significant portion of the lap time.
Pirelli’s choice of particularly hard compounds also demanded that teams carefully manage tire heating during the out-lap to bring the core and surface temperatures into the ideal window for maximum grip. However, this process carries the risk of overheating the tires, which Ferrari clearly experienced.
Combination of technical factors limits SF-25 performance
For Ferrari, finding the right balance was extremely difficult. The car started the lap with cold tires that warmed progressively. In sector 2, the SF-25 kept the tires within the optimal window, producing decent intermediate times, but in the final sector, performance dropped due to the onset of overheating.
Through the high-speed corners of sector 3, Charles Leclerc consistently lost mid-corner speed, further increasing the gap. This technical picture demonstrates how the combination of understeer, aerodynamic load management, and tire temperature issues decisively affected the overall performance of Ferrari’s SF-25 in Qatar.
Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s grand prix now become pure survival exercises. The data gathered might help a tenth here or there for the main qualifying, but the big picture won’t change until Maranello rolls out the 2026 challenger.
For now, Ferrari fans can only watch and hope the pain ends quickly.
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