Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc agreed that the car was more controllable during qualifying than in the sprint race earlier in the day, but that Ferrari were fundamentally lacking pace at the Lusail International Circuit.
Hamilton was eliminated in the first part of qualifying for the third time running, following early exits in Las Vegas and Friday’s sprint shootout. Leclerc, meanwhile, squeezed his way into Q3 by the skin of his teeth, but was slowest in that session, behind the likes of Isack Hadjar, Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly.
Saturday evening’s qualifying followed a pointless start to the weekend in the sprint race. Hamilton failed to make progress after starting from the pit lane, crossing the line in 17th, while Leclerc experienced a messy opening lap and a series of off-track wobbles on his way to 13th place.
Speaking after the second competitive session of the day in Qatar, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: “The car felt a lot better, it just didn’t reflect that in the times.” The Brit then added: “The car felt good. Honestly, the car felt a lot better than it was in the rest of the weekend. We were looking okay, and then we just didn’t get the last lap.”
Hamilton’s comments were put to team-mate Leclerc, who could only echo his Ferrari colleague’s sentiment. “I agree with Lewis’ feeling,” he explained. “The car feels quite okay, doesn’t feel that much off the pace.
“But then when you look at the timings, we are very, very, very far [off]. It’s just the performance of the car at the moment. We are not where we want to be. I changed quite a bit on the car since yesterday, but I couldn’t extract any more.”
With two underwhelming grid positions at a circuit where overtaking is typically at a premium, Ferrari’s chances of making inroads on Constructors’ Championship rivals Mercedes and Red Bull have been severely dashed.
The Scuderia are now 22 points behind Laurent Mekies’s quad in third, while Mercedes have checked out in second place, 41 points ahead of Red Bull behind them. In the Drivers’ Championship, meanwhile, Leclerc is in no man’s land, while Hamilton is being hunted down by seventh-placed Kimi Antonelli.
At the front of the field, Oscar Piastri pipped World Championship rival and team-mate Lando Norris to pole position after winning the sprint race. After a seven-race slump, the Australian has awoken in the nick of time, giving him the opportunity to push the battle to the final weekend of the season in Abu Dhabi.
