Qatar, Ferrari nightmare: Leclerc and Hamilton vent after Sprint

Without mincing words, the Sprint Race in Lusail, Qatar, was below expectations for the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, with the Monegasque finishing 13th in the race won by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and the Briton, on the other hand, not going beyond 17th place. It was a double negative performance that raises further questions in the Cavallino box, underlined moreover by team radios in which both drivers showed less and less patience with a car that failed even for a moment, in the 100-kilometer race run Saturday, to give the’impression that it could be competitive.

The team was not able to give the impression of being competitive.

Under indictment, from both drivers, was the balance of the Ferrari, with rear-end problems that manifested themselves throughout the Sprint race. The team radio between Charles Leclerc and his track engineer, Bryan Bozzi, is decidedly clear in this regard: “What is happening to the rear end, why is it behaving this way? ” asked the driver, hearing from Bozzi that not even at the race wall they had no idea of the origin of the problem. Same between Lewis Hamilton and Riccardo Adami, with the latter only able to explain that it was the same problem Leclerc had, at those junctures.

At the checkered flag, both number 16 and 44 vented, again with the radio open: “We have to understand for sure what is going on – said, rather impatient, Leclerc -. Already on the first lap I had the impression that I could go against the wall”. More stringent, but no less outspoken, Hamilton: “I really don”t know how we got worse” said the Briton, who already in qualifying for the Sprint had failed to go beyond SQ1. Both drivers will have little time to figure out what to do: in fact, as early as 7 p.m. Italian time qualifying for Sunday’s Gp is scheduled.