Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton endured another difficult outing at the Qatar Grand Prix, marking the third race weekend this season in which he failed to score a single point. The 2025 campaign has become increasingly bleak for Ferrari, who are now guaranteed to finish fourth in the constructors’ championship. With Red Bull and Mercedes mathematically unreachable and just one round remaining, the Scuderia have been forced to accept a disappointing end to the year.
After earlier pointless weekends in Hungary and the Netherlands, Lewis Hamilton saw his struggles intensify in Qatar. For the first time since 2009, he found himself qualifying outside the top 15 in three consecutive sessions. He was unable to progress beyond Q1 for both the Sprint Race and the main Grand Prix, and despite attempting to recover on Sunday, he could climb no higher than 12th in a race shaped by a long DRS train that trapped much of the midfield. Journalist Jose M. Zapico observed behaviour from Hamilton after the race that reminded him of the final stages of Michael Schumacher’s Formula 1 career, although Hamilton may still have one final chance in 2026 to disprove such comparisons.
While both Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton have faced difficulties throughout 2025, Juan Pablo Montoya has pointed out what he described as the most significant difference between their respective seasons—Sainz has shown clear improvement, while Hamilton has experienced a noticeable decline. At the Qatar Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz delivered an impressive performance and secured his second podium of the season for Williams, whereas Lewis Hamilton once again finished outside the points-paying positions in what became another frustrating result for Ferrari.
Sainz remains the most recent Ferrari driver to win a Grand Prix, despite leaving the team at the conclusion of last season. Ferrari have struggled across multiple areas in 2025 and stand as the only member of Formula 1’s so-called “big four” to have not won a race this year. Hamilton’s entire campaign can be summed up by the absence of a single podium. The seven-time world champion now has only one remaining Grand Prix to preserve his long-standing record of achieving at least one top-three finish in every one of his 18 previous seasons.
Juan Pablo Montoya has offered insight into why the seasons of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton have diverged so dramatically. Speaking after Sainz’s podium celebrations in Lusail on Formula 1’s post-race broadcast, Montoya commented on how the Spaniard’s year compared with that of his successor at Ferrari. The former Grand Prix winner suggested that Carlos Sainz had demonstrated considerable patience throughout the season. Montoya explained that Williams are currently in a rebuilding phase, fully aware of the work required to move forward, and he added that the team have been putting essential processes in place to support long-term improvement.
According to Montoya, Carlos Sainz has brought a highly technical and meticulous approach to Williams, particularly in his interactions during engineering meetings. The Colombian noted that Sainz’s attention to detail has ensured that every aspect of the weekend is executed with precision, something reflected in Sainz’s comments after the race.
In contrast, Montoya described Ferrari’s environment with Lewis Hamilton as being built on long-standing habits and a belief that the team already know the correct way to operate. He implied that this approach has contributed to their current results. Since arriving in Maranello, Lewis Hamilton has not yet been able to match the depth of technical feedback that Sainz was previously known for. Sainz’s engineering expertise had played a crucial role behind the scenes at Ferrari, and the team’s ongoing inability to resolve their major issues has been partly linked to the loss of his technical influence.
This situation has prompted questions about whether Ferrari made the right decision in parting ways with Carlos Sainz and replacing him with Lewis Hamilton. Sainz’s achievement of two podium finishes with a midfield Williams car has intensified scrutiny of Ferrari’s choice, especially as Hamilton continues to struggle and faces criticism for the underwhelming results he has produced so far in 2025. Even Ferrari chairman John Elkann has expressed dissatisfaction with the team’s performances.
With both drivers enduring separate but significant challenges this year, Carlos Sainz has nonetheless voiced a degree of empathy for Hamilton when asked whether he felt any satisfaction seeing Ferrari encounter difficulties without him. The Spaniard made it clear that he did not take pleasure in the situation. He was also questioned about the possibility of returning to Ferrari one day, should the iconic Italian team express interest. Sainz stated that he would respond to a call from the Scuderia, but he emphasised that such a scenario would only be considered by him in the distant future.
