Charles Leclerc was left bemoaning his Ferrari package in the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race, damningly stating that the car “felt horrible”.
The Monegasque dropped from ninth to 13th on the opening lap at the Lusail International Circuit, and was unsuccessful in his early attempts to make up track position.
Leclerc laboured to the finish in the same position, after having been briefly engaged in battle with Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls after running wide.
The performance of the SF-25 appeared to be at its peak, a serious concern for the Scuderia ahead of qualifying later on Saturday evening.
After the race, Leclerc was at a loss to articulate his feelings on the car, describing it as “incredibly difficult to drive”, adding: “I don’t have any explanations for now.
“I thought there was damage on the car, but we saw something.
“But it was after the first few laps where the problem was mostly in the first lap. So we’ll analyse that, but it felt horrible.”
When asked if there is a solution to the issues plaguing the SF-25 ahead of qualifying, Leclerc called for a total pivot.
“Change the car massively, for sure, because the way it is at the moment, there’s nothing we can do better if the car is the same,” he said.
Hamilton: Ferrari ‘definitely learned something’
Lewis Hamilton endured an even worse afternoon. Having qualified 18th, the Englishman opted for a pit lane start and failed to make any significant ground, finishing 17th.
On the cool-down lap, Hamilton was incredulous, telling the team over the radio that “I don’t know how we made the car worse.”
And the seven-time World Champion was uncommunicative after the race, saying that the team had evidently discovered its set-up choices were totally the wrong way to go.
“We made some changes, that’s why we started from the pit lane and yeah unfortunately it was the wrong direction, so we definitely learned something,” he said.
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