Lewis Hamilton openly criticized the FIA after the Qatar Grand Prix, arguing that the lack of key interventions may have influenced how the race unfolded. The British driver insisted that Formula 1 needs to introduce changes to improve future race weekends in Lusail.
The Lusail weekend reopened the championship fight, with the McLaren duo preparing to challenge Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi for the season finale. However, despite the renewed title tension, both the Grand Prix and the sprint received widespread complaints due to the lack of on-track action. Hamilton pointed out several issues that, in his view, the FIA should have addressed and must now consider to improve the Qatar Grand Prix in the future.
His remarks went beyond the limitations shown by the Ferrari SF-25 on this circuit. Lewis Hamilton finished the race in twelfth, while his teammate Charles Leclerc crossed the line in eighth place. Both Ferrari drivers spent the afternoon stuck in midfield traffic without the chance to recover ground.
Hamilton against the FIA after the race
The seven-time World Champion highlighted multiple elements that, according to him, flattened the race and made it less exciting. Lewis Hamilton said he had already approached the FIA ahead of the Qatar weekend to ask why no action had been taken after the overtaking issues seen in the previous year.
“It was definitely one of the worst Grands Prix, because everyone stopped at the same moment. There is no flexibility and, on top of that, you cannot overtake,” he told the media, as reported by Motorsport Week. “I think it was probably the same for everybody.”
There were only a few position changes among the leaders during the 57 laps, mainly when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had to recover positions after their offset pit stops. The situation was even more static in the second half of the field, where most drivers held their positions from the Safety Car restart all the way to the finish, with only minimal exceptions.
Lewis Hamilton explained what he had asked during the drivers’ briefing: “I asked them why, looking at last year, there were no overtakes. I questioned why they didn’t extend the DRS zone, for example. They told me, ‘Oh, we didn’t think about it.’ And I replied, ‘What are they doing? Even the pit lane is 26 seconds long. If you go to the end of the pit lane there is a large empty space that serves no purpose, so they could easily bring the end of the pit lane forward.’”
The rule on tyre sets
The Ferrari driver also commented on the decision by Pirelli and Formula 1 to impose a maximum number of laps for each tyre set. “We also had this rule of a maximum of 25 laps on the tyres. So yes, it was one of the worst races.”
The Lusail circuit is popular among drivers thanks to its fast, flowing corners, but its key issue remains the difficulty of overtaking. Lewis Hamilton concluded: “It is a beautiful place and it is managed extremely well, but they have to find a solution because I imagine the race must have been quite boring to watch.”
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