Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has suffered his worst race result with Ferrari since joining the Italian team at the start of 2025 in this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix sprint.
Hamilton made the switch from Mercedes ahead of this year’s F1 campaign, but with just two grands prix left in the championship, he sits way down in sixth in the drivers’ standings.
The 40-year-old has also had two DNFs during his maiden campaign in red after failing to finish both the Brazilian GP and the Dutch GP.
The announcement that he would be moving to the Scuderia came with plenty of hope that he could return to winning ways and even get himself back into championship contention.
But he has been way off the pace and persistently struggled at the wheel of the SF-25, something which became painfully clear in Qatar this weekend after the Brit finished the sprint race in P17.
F1 championship standings after Qatar sprint
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 226 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 152 |
| 7 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 140 |
Hamilton finds new low at Ferrari
The Ferrari driver only managed to qualify in P18 for the sprint race in Qatar and started Saturday’s 100km race from the pit lane.
Nevertheless, he evidently struggled with his new car once again when taking to the Lusail International Circuit, crossing the line in P17- his worst result on track ever since joining Ferrari.
This was also his worst ever result in the sprint format, with his previous lowest finishing position coming at the Miami GP sprint last year where he finished 16th.
To make things worse for the champion, Saturday’s poor result is also the lowest he has finished in any race since the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, when he crossed the line in P18.
Speaking over team radio after this year’s final sprint, Hamilton said: “I don’t know how we made the car worse.”
Perhaps the only silver lining for Hamilton is that his team-mate Charles Leclerc also struggled in the Qatar GP sprint, finishing way off the pace in P13, meaning that Saturday’s race also marked Ferrari’s first failure to score in a sprint race since Monza 2021.
F1 Results: Qatar Grand Prix Sprint 2025
| Position | Driver | Team | Time/Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | – |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | +4.951secs |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +6.279secs |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +9.054secs |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda* | Red Bull | +19.327secs |
| 6 | Kimi Antonelli* | Mercedes | +21.391secs |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +24.556secs |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +27.333secs |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +28.206secs |
| 10 | Alex Albon | Williams | +28.295secs |
| 11 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber | +32.966secs |
| 12 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +34.529secs |
| 13 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +35.182secs |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +36.916secs |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +38.838secs |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | +39.638secs |
| 17 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +46.171secs |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +69.534secs |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +77.960secs |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +80.804secs |
