Ferrari fans have been holding on to hope all season, but the Qatar weekend has made things feel worse than ever. The famous Italian team walked away from qualifying looking completely off the pace, and the reactions from both their star drivers, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, painted a worrying picture.
An ESPN F1 analyst has now made a very alarming comment on the situation, and it is not the kind of prediction fans of the Maranello outfit wanted to hear. Ferrari is the oldest and most iconic team in F1, with multiple championships and an extremely loyal fan base, which makes the current situation even harder to digest.
Qatar Qualifying Raises Alarm Bells for Ferrari
Qualifying at the Qatar GP turned into a wake-up call as other top teams like McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull all looked sharp at different points of the session. However, Ferrari never truly entered the fight, with Leclerc ending up P10, while Hamilton was yet again knocked out in Q1, being 18th on the grid.
Hamilton tried to stay positive and also mentioned that the team made changes that helped him feel better, but nothing translated into a competitive lap time as he barely had any speed. After the sprint race last night, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly even walked over to tell Hamilton how rough the Ferrari looked on track, and the seven-time champion’s reaction showed how embarrassed he was of the level they are at.
Leclerc sounded even more drained after he struggled with oversteer all weekend, and a big spin in Q3 summed up his frustration. He said it was extremely difficult to just keep the car on track, “Incredibly difficult day, incredibly difficult weekend. I don’t really know what to say. It’s been extremely difficult to drive this car, to keep it on track. It’s frustrating.”
Worrying Comments About Ferrari Ahead of 2026
As if the Qatar result was not enough, social media got even wilder after an ESPN F1 analyst, Nate Saunders, shared a strong opinion on the situation. The post suggested that Ferrari is heading toward an internal implosion if the team does not start the 2026 regulation cycle with a title-contending car.
Saunders wrote, “If Ferrari doesn’t come out of the blocks with a car at least in contention for the title under the new regs, you can’t help but feel the dam could burst internally. Incomprehensible situation for the team to be in currently.”
Former driver and current F1TV analyst Jolyon Palmer said during a media session, “that car is the worst in the field today, bear in mind they have Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc driving for them.” Another fan wrote about the current harsh reality about the Prancing Horse, “The Ferrari is the 9th fastest car today. Slower than all its customer teams.”
Ferrari now has two things to deal with: the first is an immediate improvement in performance to close out this season with dignity, and the second is to prove to the world that it can take on the huge rule shift coming in 2026. The only way to silence the outside noise is to change the story on track, but for now, the situation remains difficult, and everyone inside the team is well aware of it.