Lewis Hamilton has confirmed the sheer scale of Ferrari’s issues after a challenging Qatar Grand Prix sprint left both him and his team-mate Charles Leclerc without the performance to even finish in the points.
While Oscar Piastri controlled the 19-lap race on the Losail circuit with Mercedes’ George Russell and Lando Norris rounding out the top three, the Scuderia team was left wondering where it had gone wrong after Hamilton could do no better than 17th following a start from the pitlane.
Following his struggle, the seven-time champion revealed the issues he identified after a number of changes were made overnight.
“Well, I mean, we started from the pitlane because we wanted to explore and make some changes,” he said. “They had some things they found on the simulator last night, so we implemented those changes. And yeah, the car was really in the wrong direction and very, very difficult for whatever reason,” he said, after joking that he would “be here all day” if he listed everything he wanted improved.
The Briton’s main complaint came in the shape of a lack of rear-end traction.
“We just don’t have any stability. So when I say that, it’s the rear end is not planted. So it’s sliding, snapping a lot. Then we have bouncing. So when you’re going into corners like Turn 10, the thing starts bouncing.
“We have a lot of mid-corner understeer. And then you apply the steering and then it snaps and you try and catch it. So it’s different between low, medium and high. And it’s a fight like you couldn’t believe,” Hamilton explained.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls Team
Photo by: Lars Baron / LAT Images via Getty Images
On the other side of the Italian outfit’s garage, Leclerc had similar complaints after he finished 13th. He was asked if he agreed with Hamilton’s opinion that the car got worse between yesterday’s qualifying and today.
“It definitely did. I have no idea how that happened from qualifying to today. The feeling has changed completely to yesterday and I don’t really know from where it’s coming from,” Leclerc said when asked if his car also felt worse.
“The first lap was just, I was struggling to keep the car on track. Lost four or five positions and then still lots of mistakes because it was extremely difficult to drive. So I don’t quite understand what happened there.”
With both drivers facing a challenging car, Ferrari has a big job on its hands as it now adjusts for qualifying for the grand prix later today.
Photos from Qatar GP – Sprint Race
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