Ferrari endured one of its most difficult weekends of the season at the F1 Qatar GP, with team principal Fred Vasseur pointing to tyre pressures and early setup missteps as key reasons behind the team’s lack of competitiveness. Neither driver was able to extract consistent performance from the car across the weekend, with Charles Leclerc finishing P8 and Lewis Hamilton down in P12 on Sunday.
This result saw the team fall to fourth in the constructors’ standings—just three races after holding second place in the aftermath of the Mexico GP—losing out to not only Mercedes but also Red Bull as Max Verstappen continues his underdog title charge.
Lack of car development not a factor
Vasseur was asked whether he expected such a performance drop after halting development of the SF-25 in April in preparation for the 2026 season. He dismissed the suggestion, pointing to Leclerc’s recent podium finishes as a sign that Qatar is likely an outlier.
“Honestly not, but at the end of the day we don’t have to mix everything,” he said after the race.
“In Mexico and Austin we were on the podium. It means that it’s not just about development. The others didn’t develop between Austin and today.”
Tyre pressures and setup issues compromised performance
Pirelli implemented strict tyre pressure prescriptions ahead of the weekend, along with a 25-lap stint limit, following concerns over tyre wear. According to Vasseur, this put the team on the back foot. He also pointed to setup issues that plagued the team from the very first session.
“I think that this weekend we struggled a lot with the setup and probably also linked to the prescription of the tyre pressure,” Vasseur explained. “We struggled from lap one to the last lap of the race. It was probably a bit better [on Sunday] but marginally. It’s part of the explanation. The other part, the main part of the situation this weekend is linked to the setup from lap one when we were in a tough situation.”
Drivers united despite frustration
Both Hamilton and Leclerc were vocal about their struggles this weekend, with Hamilton cutting a downcast figure as he failed to progress beyond the first segment of qualifying twice across the weekend. Leclerc fared better, but visibly wrestled with the car to extract performance, having several off-track moments throughout the weekend and suffering a dramatic high-speed spin in Q3.
Asked whether it’s difficult to keep morale up on dismal weekends like this, Vasseur stated that he understands the drivers’ frustration.
“Honestly…I can’t say that it was positive, but the collaboration and the briefing and so was positive. We were all pushing in the same direction,” he said. “Now I can understand their frustration. And trust me, if you ask me the question when I’m on the pit wall at the end of the session, I think I’m going to reply with probably the same words.
“And I understand their frustration in the TV pen. Now the most important is when they are back into the garage with the mechanics, the engineers to try to find solutions. And we tried this weekend, but…”
The Frenchman confirmed that the drivers faced power steering issues on Friday. With parc fermé rules limiting changes between sessions, Ferrari found itself locked into a compromised setup.
“We had the issue, it’s not a secret, with the power steering at the beginning of the weekend. This, I think, is probably part of the issue that we had on the setup,” he said.
“And then you go in qualy, you go in the Sprint Race and you can’t change between the two. We made big changes. I think it was okay-ish perhaps [in the race] but we went too far away when the others are fine-tuning. But if you start miles away…”
Narrow margins
Vasseur noted how tight the field has become in qualifying, meaning that even small errors or performance losses can have major consequences. The circuit is notoriously difficult for overtaking—this, combined with the enforced two-stop strategy, left little room for recovery for drivers mired in the midfield.
“If you do a step back by two tenths, you are within ten positions,” Vasseur said. “That I think it was Q1 or Q2 yesterday when you had a two-tenths and a half between P5 and P16. If you are out of the window, for sure, you lose tons of positions.
“On a track like this, when you have zero deg, it’s not easy to overtake with the layout of the track. Zero deg and on top [of that] you will pause to stop, you don’t get to come back.”
