After just one free practice session it was already time for the Formula 1 teams to get serious and focus completely on performance. At the highly anticipated United States Grand Prix weekend in Austin, Texas, Ferrari was hoping to turn around what has been a very complicated and challenging period for the Scuderia. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc aimed to take full advantage of the Sprint Race format, which has so far yielded some positive results earlier in this 2025 Formula 1 season, with Lewis Hamilton taking an impressive victory in China and a solid third-place finish in Miami, in an effort to at least provide the Ferrari fanbase with some reason to cheer after a string of disappointing weekends. Charles Leclerc, unfortunately, had to replace a broken gearbox during the first practice session, FP1, which added an extra layer of complexity to the weekend preparations.
So let’s take a detailed look at how events unfolded for the Maranello team’s two drivers at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. Both Ferrari SF-25 cars began the Sprint qualifying session on Medium tires, in accordance with the regulations, which mandated that drivers must start the session with this specific compound. After the usual pre-session warm-up procedures, which include multiple installation laps and system checks to bring the tires and brakes up to optimal temperature, the drivers started their first flying laps. Lewis Hamilton confirmed his strong and positive feeling with the car, quickly moving into second position on the timing sheets, demonstrating both confidence and precision in his approach, while Charles Leclerc struggled to find any real rhythm and was over a second behind the British driver, clearly showing that he was having difficulty adapting to the nuances of the SF-25. Lewis Hamilton exhibited consistently clean driving throughout the lap, although he was not able to perfectly hit every apex in every corner on every attempt, an issue that can happen when drivers push at the very edge of the car’s performance envelope.
Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, suffered primarily in the corner entry phases, where the SF-25’s rear end felt unstable and unpredictable, penalizing him particularly in the second and third sectors of the lap. To complicate matters further, traffic on the circuit became a significant factor, interfering with the cleanliness and flow of his laps and preventing him from stringing together a fully optimal effort. After a cooldown lap to give the tires a chance to recover and stabilize, Charles Leclerc attempted another flying lap in an effort to improve his position. Unfortunately, the SF-25 continued to feel stiff, lacking the responsiveness required for the slower corners, making it extremely difficult to extract the full performance from the car.
Despite these evident difficulties and the risk of early elimination, Charles Leclerc managed to set a time that was sufficient to advance to the next stage of qualifying, though he did so with little margin for error. Traffic remained a decisive factor for all drivers, affecting lap times across the board, while Lewis Hamilton, having already secured his safety in the session, was able to complete his laps without any significant issues or interruptions. The first phase of qualifying, Q1, ended with noticeable chaos on the track, as drivers battled for clean air and ideal track conditions, compounded by the asphalt evolving quickly due to changing temperatures and rubber being laid down. While Lewis Hamilton appeared comfortable and confident in the SF-25, Charles Leclerc still needed to find the level of confidence that would allow him to push the car fully and maximize its potential. Drivers eliminated in Q1 included Oliver Bearman, Franco Colapinto, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, and Gabriel Bortoleto.
SQ2: Ferrari qualify by mere thousandths
Following a short and strategic stop in the pits, both Ferrari SF-25 cars returned to the track to begin the second phase of qualifying, Q2. Understeer continued to significantly affect the cars’ behavior, especially during corner entry, which reduced the overall speed through the mid-sector and forced the drivers to adjust their driving style accordingly. This deficit also carried over to corner exits, as the drivers were compelled to delay their acceleration onto the straights in order to maintain control and stability. Lewis Hamilton adopted a softer and more controlled approach to corner entry compared to Charles Leclerc, a tactical choice that allowed him to maintain better overall stability and a cleaner trajectory from the apex onwards, helping him to maximize performance despite the car’s limitations.
After completing another warm-up lap, the drivers switched into push mode, initiating another full-attack flying lap. The pattern of the session remained largely unchanged, although Charles Leclerc finally managed to get closer to the lap time of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, showing some adaptation and improvement. However, difficulties with rapid changes of direction remained clearly evident: the SF-25 continued to feel unagile and unresponsive, limiting the drivers’ ability to attack the apex and rotate the car precisely through the tight corners. Turns eight and nine remained the most challenging points on the circuit for the Ferrari drivers, with the front end not responding as it ideally should, thereby limiting the car’s rotation and compromising exit speed.
The Maranello cars also struggled with traction, particularly when attempting to exploit the inner curbs, which further reduced their ability to carry speed through complex sections. In the third sector, the same weaknesses were again apparent, with the front of the car feeling underwhelming and lacking sharpness, making it difficult to fully capitalize on the engine power and aerodynamic grip available. After completing a double cooldown lap to allow the tires to recover, both drivers returned to the track for another attempt. Charles Leclerc showed some improvement on this lap and was able to secure his position safely within Q2, while Lewis Hamilton remained under pressure, having to push until the final moments to ensure progression. Ultimately, both Ferrari drivers advanced to the final phase of qualifying by an incredibly narrow margin, with Lewis Hamilton passing the cut by just six thousandths of a second over Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes W16, while the Italian was eliminated alongside drivers Isack Hadjar, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, and Liam Lawson.
SQ3: Sauber faster than Ferrari
The final phase of the Sprint qualifying session proved to be more complex and challenging than initially expected for Ferrari. The team could not find the ideal balance for the SF-25, and the base setup continued to fail in delivering optimal performance for the track in Austin. There was hope that switching to Soft tires might improve grip generation and allow the drivers to push harder, although historically, Maranello cars have often struggled with increased understeer when using the red Soft compound compared to the Medium tires. Therefore, many uncertainties remained heading into this decisive part of qualifying.
Both Ferrari SF-25 cars went out onto the track in favorable positions for a flying lap, with the goal of finding clean air and avoiding traffic to maximize their lap times. After the preparation lap, the drivers activated race mode and began their full-attack approach to the timing boards. However, even on Soft tires, the situation for Ferrari did not improve: both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc pushed the cars to their absolute maximum limits, yet the SF-25 continued to lack responsiveness, particularly in corner entry and rotation, preventing the drivers from fully exploiting the car’s potential. The setup remained far from ideal, leaving the team and drivers frustrated, as the cars did not deliver the expected performance levels.
To further exacerbate the disappointment for the Scuderia, both Williams and Sauber managed to place themselves ahead of the Ferrari cars on the final Sprint qualifying timesheet, demonstrating that the SF-25 was not even able to match the pace of some midfield rivals in the critical moments of the session. This result highlighted ongoing issues with the car’s handling, understeer, and balance, signaling that significant work would be needed to improve performance and competitiveness in the upcoming race.
In conclusion, the Ferrari SF-25 showed once again that, despite the efforts of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to extract the maximum from the machinery, the car’s current form is still far from ideal, particularly in terms of handling, responsiveness, and traction.
And you? What do you think about Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s performance in the Sprint quali session at COTA? Let us know with a comment at the end of the article or on our social media channels: Facebook Group / Facebook Page / Instagram / X (former Twitter) and TikTok.
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