F1 News: Lewis Hamilton gives painful ONE-word interview after Qatar GP flop

Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari race suit in the Ferrari garage — Photo: © IMAGO

Qatar Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton gives painful ONE-word interview after Qatar flop

Lewis Hamilton suffered a double Q1 exit

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 29 November 2025 21:03

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Lewis Hamilton has run out of words to describe his performances after a soul destroying F1 weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix with Ferrari.

Lusail has offered no reprieve from Hamilton's misfortune in 2025, with the seven-time world champion not only being knocked out in SQ1 during sprint qualifying, but also Q1 in main race qualifying.

Hamilton opted for a pit lane start to trial setup changes during the sprint in Qatar, but was unable to progress any further than P17 and finished well outside of the points.

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Main race qualifying on Saturday was a chance for Hamilton to banish the demons which had plagued him on Friday, but was once again kicked out of Q1 and only set the 18th fastest time.

The Brit was a man of few words to Sky Sports' Rachel Brookes on Friday, claiming the only positive was 'the weather', and speaking to the media after qualifying Hamilton had even fewer words to say.

The interviewer asked: "Lewis, you are a great champion. You had some difficult moments during your career, but is it one of the most difficult - this season and this weekend?"

Hamilton only had one word in response to the question, and said: "Yup."

Is the 2025 Qatar GP Hamilton's worst weekend in F1?

In his interview with Sky Sports F1, Hamilton was marginally more chatty and described his feeling in the car to Brookes.

"The car felt a lot better, it just didn't reflect that in the times," he said.

"The car felt good. Honestly, the car felt a lot better than it was in the rest of the weekend. We were looking ok and then we just didn't get the last lap."

While Charles Leclerc made Q3 on both qualifying occasions in Qatar, Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate has suffered equally as much as the champion.

Keeping his SF-25 straight and on the track during qualifying was a challenge for Leclerc, where he suffered a big spin at the high-speed Turn 15, pirouetting his Ferrari twice but managing to remain in the session.

Leclerc finished Saturday's sprint race outside of the points in P13, and could only acquire a grid slot of P10 - below Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz - for Sunday's Qatar GP.

Speaking after qualifying, Leclerc was equally as miserable as Hamilton, and added: "I agree with Lewis' feeling."

"The car feels quite ok, it doesn't feel that much off the pace, but when you look at the timings we are very, very, very far.

"It's just the performance of the car at the moment, we are not where we want to be. I changed quite a bit on the car since yesterday but I couldn't extract any more."

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Qatar Grand Prix