Ferrari pair struggling for hope amid Qatar woes

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both offered little in the way of optimism after another tough qualifying session at the Qatar Grand Prix saw Leclerc slowest in Q3 and Hamilton eliminated in Q1.

Hamilton had already been knocked out in SQ1 on Friday and followed that up with the 18th-fastest time in Saturday’s session, while Leclerc himself struggled to advance into the top 10. Once there, Leclerc had a high-speed spin at the penultimate corner and his final lap was only good enough for 10th on the grid, a result he says is all the car was capable of.

“Really difficult to drive, and it's just frustrating,” Leclerc said. “The second lap in Q3 was a really good one, but that's only good enough for P10, and that is, once again, very frustrating.

“I just took a stupid amount of risk, just like I do on every single corner in Q3 to try and get P8 or P9, but was a little bit too much. Then I brought it back for Q3 run two, and that was just fine, and it was a really good lap, but there wasn't anything more in the car.”

Leclerc does not expect the car to be any more competitive in the race itself, having endured a tough Sprint on Saturday that saw him fail to score.

“I'm generally a very optimistic person, but I struggle to find any optimism for tomorrow," he said. "There’s not one lap this weekend that gave me the hope that things can go in the right direction.

“A good day tomorrow will be to keep the car on track and to try and score a few points. I mean, I don't want to go into a race thinking about taking a few points and keeping the car on track, so I'll try to get into the top 10, but realistically, do I really believe in it? I honestly don't think so.”

Hamilton suffered his third consecutive elimination in the first part of qualifying after a Q1 exit in Las Vegas. He says the car was in a more friendly place for him, but it still simply lacked pace.

“I was generally feeling better; we made changes,” Hamilton said. “The car was feeling better, just wasn’t quick … I think the early session was looking pretty decent, but then I lost it at the last lap.

“[The car is lacking] stability – front and rear stability. We're obviously lacking downforce compared to the others – on the ragged edge…

"You saw in the Sprint that there is no overtaking, so I can try something different on strategy maybe. We'll see.”

While Hamilton says he supported the decision from Ferrari to turn off aerodynamic development on this year’s car, he believes the team suffers overall from the general attention it receives.

"It's my first year with the team, so I haven't noticed [a psychological impact of focusing on 2026]," he said. "I think the results, for sure, for all the mechanics, all the engineers that turn up every weekend, for everyone back at the factory, I'm sure the results… it’s hard for them. They turn up and give their best, but I don't think that's just aero-related; it's just what we've been facing this year.

“Also, the negativity that's constantly within the media and everything like that, that affects them. They get home to their wives and their wives say, ‘They've been saying this about people where you work,’ and I'm sure that's tough on them and their kids... There's a huge effect on lots of people.”