Following Sunday’s Qatar GP, which Lewis Hamilton described as “pretty dull”, the Ferrari driver labelled the GP as one of, if not the “worst races” of the F1 season.
“I had a good first lap, and after that it was pretty dull,” Hamilton summarised his race in the print pen after the conclusion of the Qatar GP. The Briton had started the race from P17 on the grid and made up three positions on the opening lap.
Early Safety Car hampered Hamilton’s chances
An early Safety Car, prompted by an incident between Pierre Gasly and Nico Hülkenberg on Lap 7 of the Qatar GP, saw Hamilton lose position in the pits due to Ferrari opting for a double stack. Starting on the soft compound tyres, the 7-time Champion rued the timing of the Safety Car as he had initially planned to pit a few laps later in an attempt to undercut the cars ahead.
“The safety car came out at the worst time for me. I had started on the soft. I was planning on stopping on lap 10, tried to undercut the cars ahead of me.
“There’s no deg on these tyres, so there’s no undercut, very little undercut, no overcut. So, in double stacking, I lost, I think, two or three places I lost on the safety car.”
Qatar GP exposed Ferrari’s lack of development progress
With overtaking proving to be challenging on the Lusail International Circuit, Hamilton finished the Qatar GP in P12. While the Qatar GP could be considered a particularly challenging weekend, it has also shown what little progress Ferrari has made in terms of development this season, says Hamilton.
“On the other side, for us, I think it really highlighted just how developed everybody else is and how undeveloped we are at this point of the year. I was nearly getting overtaken by a Sauber car, and I couldn’t keep up with the Williams. And the Williams came third, so they’ve done a great job.”
Hamilton voices criticism
After what he described as a “pretty dull” race, Hamilton shared criticism he had voiced in the drivers’ briefing ahead of the Qatar GP. The Ferrari driver recalled an exchange with the FIA where he questioned the length of the DRS zone and the pit lane.
“I mean, I think, being critical, like if you look, when I was in the drivers’ briefing, for example, I asked them the question, ‘Like, why have you seen last year there was no overtaking? Why have you not, for example, increased the DRS?’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, hmm, hadn’t thought of that.’ I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’
“And the pit lane is 26 seconds. If you go to the end of the pit lane, there’s a long space that’s just unnecessary to be in a pit lane, so you can pull that earlier.
“The start, it starts super early, so you could squeeze it down to be shorter.”
Lack of strategic flexibility and overtakes make Qatar GP “one of the worst races”
Hamilton’s critique of the event didn’t end there. Ahead of the Qatar GP, the FIA introduced a maximum stint length of 25 laps. The maximum stint length, as well as the lack of overtaking opportunities, prompted Hamilton to label the Qatar GP as “one of the worst races”.
“We’ve got these 25 lap maximum on these tyres, so, I mean, it’s one of the worst races. It’s probably the worst race for us to go to when you can’t overtake.
“And so, [it’s a] beautiful place, and really well-hosted.
“But they’ve got to come up with some other solution, because that, I don’t know, hopefully you write how bad that race was probably to watch.
“I imagine it’s pretty bad to watch.”
Qatar GP comparable to Monaco GP
Hamilton concedes that the track is “phenomenal” to drive, but the lack of overtakes and limited strategic options make it comparable to Monaco.
“Normally, you can try something, you can do different stuff,” Hamilton says, referring to strategic options teams have at other circuits.
“I’m sure there’s been other races, other bad races here. But, definitely one of the worst Grand Prixs in that respect, because everyone’s just stopping at the same time, and there’s no flexibility, and then on top of that, you can’t overtake.
“And it’s so fast that track. It’s a phenomenal track to drive, and it’s very, very fast. It’s just, unfortunately, like Monaco.”
Considering the regulation change for the 2026 F1 season, Hamilton believes that the vastly different car characteristics might help create overtaking opportunities for next year’s Qatar GP.
“I think, obviously, the car’s going to be very different, faster in a straight line, slower around corners. I mean, our cars will be a lot different.
“There should be more variation between teams. Possibly, a lot different. Maybe there’ll be more overtaking, we’ll see.”
Hamilton weighs in on title fight
The Qatar GP might have offered little in terms of entertainment, but the result meant the title decision was postponed to the last round in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen won the Qatar GP, and with Championship leader Lando Norris finishing in fourth, the Dutchman reduced the gap to just 12 points ahead of the final round of the 2025 F1 season.
“How’s Max 12 behind now?” Hamilton questioned upon being told the Championship standings in the press pen. The 40-year-old presumed Piastri had won the Qatar GP and was thus surprised to learn that Verstappen had emerged as the victor.
“Max [Verstappen] won? Oh, shoot, I didn’t know, I had no idea. Wow, holy s***. No, no, I thought Piastri won, I don’t know.”
In the ensuing exchange with journalists, Hamilton was informed that Norris had finished the Qatar GP in fourth place, prompting another surprised response from the Ferrari Driver.
“Oh, really? Lando was fourth? Where’s Piastri?”
Hamilton was then told that Piastri had finished the Qatar GP in second place, ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz. With the result of the Qatar GP, we will see a three-way battle for the F1 Driver’s Championship, which Hamilton feels is exciting.
“I mean, well, that’s exciting. Yeah, so Oscar is third now.
“And then it goes to the wire.”
Hamilton praises Verstappen
Verstappen has launched a remarkable comeback in the second half of the 2025 F1 season, keeping his title chances alive. Hamilton praised his 2021 title rival and his Red Bull team, saying that Verstappen has done “a great job” with a “phenomenal team” behind him.
“Well, we all know Max does a great job.
“I think he’s got a phenomenal team behind him, which there’s no denying they’ve had the best car over the last four years. And maybe less so at the beginning of this year, but they somehow came back.
“He’s obviously got a great car, but he does an amazing job with it, so I can’t fault him.”
