Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both offered little optimism after Leclerc saw another tough qualifying session in Q3 at the Qatar Grand Prix and Hamilton was eliminated in Q1.
Hamilton had already been eliminated from SQ1 on Friday and followed that up with the 18th fastest time in Saturday’s session, while Leclerc himself struggled to break into the top 10. Once there, Leclerc had a quick spin at the penultimate corner and his final lap was only good enough for 10th on the grid, a result he believes is all the car was capable of.
“Really difficult to drive, and it’s just frustrating,” said Leclerc. “The second lap in Q3 was really good, but that is only good enough for P10 and that is again very frustrating.
“I just took a huge amount of risk, just like I do at every corner in Q3 to try and get P8 or P9, but that was a bit too much. Then I brought it back for run two in Q3, and that was fine, and it was a really good lap, but there was nothing left in the car.”
Leclerc does not expect the car to be more competitive in the race itself, after enduring a tough sprint on Saturday in which he failed to score.
“I’m generally a very optimistic person, but I’m struggling to find any optimism for tomorrow,” he said. “There wasn’t a single lap this weekend that gave me hope that things would go in the right direction.
“A good day tomorrow will be to keep the car on track and try to score a few points. I mean, I don’t want to go into a race thinking I’m going to get a few points and keep the car on track, so I’ll try to get into the top ten, 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 friendlier spot for him, but he still just didn’t have any speed.
“I felt better overall; we made changes,” Hamilton said. “The car felt better, but just wasn’t fast… I think the early session looked pretty good, but then I lost it on the last lap.
“[The car is lacking] stability – stability front and rear. We clearly lack downforce compared to the others – on the fringe…
“You saw in the Sprint that there is no overtaking, so I might try something different in terms of strategy. We’ll see.”
Although Hamilton says he supported Ferrari’s decision to eliminate aerodynamic development on this year’s car, he believes the team overall is suffering from the mainstream attention it is receiving.
“It’s my first year with the team, so I didn’t notice anything [a psychological impact of focusing on 2026]“I definitely think the results for all the mechanics, all the engineers that come every weekend, for everyone in the factory, I’m sure the results… it’s hard for them. They show up and do their best, but I don’t think that’s just aero-related; it’s just what we’ve been dealing with this year.
“Also, the negativity that is constantly present in the media and things like that affects them. They come home to their wives and their wives say, ‘They said this about the people you work for,’ and I’m sure that’s hard on them and their children… It has a huge effect on a lot of people.”
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