Qatar’s Unseen Blow: A Tough Weekend for a Motorsport Icon
Ferrari isn’t having the greatest time navigating the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix weekend so far. After scoring zero total points in the Sprint race, it was another disappointment in Qualifying. The two drivers, Charles LeClerc and Lewis Hamilton, set a P10 and P18 start respectively for the Sunday race. Even prior to the main race, it’s a low weekend for the team, but it’s only another low point for Lewis, known as the winningest driver in the history of the sport. Unable to make it past Q1 in both the Sprint Qualifying and Qualifying, he continues his slump in what has been deemed the worst season of his storied career.
Hamilton’s fame comes from his indisputable record, so let’s run through the list of his achievements to set the scene. As a rookie in 2007, Lewis Hamilton set the record for the most pole positions in a debut year with seven poles that season. He also set the record for most podiums in a rookie year, with 12. Neither of these records has been broken to date, and the runners-up haven’t come close. Hamilton has more race wins and more podiums in his career than any other driver, and his crowning achievement is that he is the seven-time world champion, a title only shared by the legendary Michael Schumacher. All seven of Hamilton’s championship victories happened while driving for Mercedes under the team principal Toto Wolff, who still runs the team, creating the most successful partnership in the history of motorsports.
In 2025, Hamilton began a new partnership with Scuderia Ferrari under the leadership of team principal Fred Vasseur. The reason for his departure from Mercedes is likely their inability to produce the fastest cars in recent years, and Hamilton is seeking an eighth championship win with a historic team. However, if this year is anything to go off of, that final victory is looking less probable with every race. His Qualifying performance in Qatar marks the second consecutive weekend where he has been unable to make it past Q1. It’s clear that Hamilton isn’t the only issue; both Hamilton and LeClerc have repeatedly complained about numerous issues with the car, which have seemingly not been addressed all season. In the Qatar Qualifying, both shared the same concerns with the rear wing, and although LeClerc made it to Q3, it was clear that the car was losing control around the Losail circuit’s many high-speed turns. Though Vasseur has assured fans that a race win is still possible by the end of the year, with only two races remaining, that seems unlikely, and Hamilton is looking to finish the season without a single podium, a personal record that he’d like to avoid.
