Lewis Hamilton hoping for a better tomorrow after ‘tough’ start at Qatar GP

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton is hoping to find answers through the data to try and ‘come back fighting’ tomorrow after a troubled start to the Qatar Grand Prix.

Feature image credit: Grégoire Truchet

Hamilton has endured his second consecutive knockout in the first third of a qualifying format, after he qualified 20th and last at Las Vegas and now 18th in the Qatar sprint qualifying session. It marks the third-consecutive qualifying format which the seven-time world champion failed to make it into Q3, having been eliminated in Q2 in Sao Paulo, Q1 in Vegas, and SQ1 in Qatar.

It has been a tricky opening day for the #44 Ferrari as Hamilton failed to make it inside the top 10 in both the single practice hour, finishing 12th, and sprint qualifying.

The world champion confirmed he and the team tried different set-ups, but confirmed they didn’t work. However, he is optimistic that they will be able to dig out the problem and come back fighting on Saturday. He said:

“Tough day out there.

“We tried a couple of different set ups and it just didn’t work out for us, but we’ll dig into the data tonight and figure out how to come back fighting for a better day tomorrow.”

Credit: Grégoire Truchet

It marks a misfiring end to Hamilton’s first season of sprint races with Ferrari. He claimed his first-ever Ferrari pole position at the Chinese sprint, converting that into the race win, but the seven-time world champion has struggled to replicate this in the last five sprint race events.

Additionally, as Charles Leclerc made it through to SQ3, qualifying as high as ninth place, the team confirmed that the Monegasque driver was not able to do more than six laps in SQ2. This was to enable them to complete the race distance of 19 laps, on Saturday, thanks to Pirelli’s mandatory tyre life.

Meaning, as Hamilton didn’t make it into the next phase of sprint qualifying, the seven-time world champion should have a fresh set of mediums to use for the sprint.

The sprint will get underway at 5pm local time (2pm GMT), ahead of qualifying at 9pm local (6pm GMT).

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Oscar Piastri takes Qatar Grand Prix sprint pole ahead of Norris and Verstappen
• Oscar Piastri tops practice in Qatar Grand prix ahead of sprint qualifying
• Adrian Newey to be Aston Martin F1 Team Principal in 2026
• Qatar Grand Prix Preview: Championships on the line in penultimate round
• Gabriel Bortoleto given five-place grid penalty for Qatar GP after Lance Stroll crash
• Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri disqualified from Las Vegas Grand Prix

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.