Ferrari machinery continues to be difficult for Lewis Hamilton to handle and his qualifying result for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was another underwhelming one
Lewis Hamilton admits he is “praying” for a miracle at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after another forgettable qualifying session. The Brit did reach Q3 in Jeddah but was never a contender for one of the first two rows and settled for seventh on the grid in the end.
It was a better result than he had managed for most of practice over the course of the Jeddah weekend. And Hamilton referenced that as he admitted it could have been a lot worse for him had he not found a little bit more pace in his Ferrari before Saturday night’s shootout began.
“That was challenging, as always, qualifying for me,” Hamilton said. “I’ve been nowhere all weekend, I think 13th in almost every sessions. So honestly I’m grateful to get to Q3. We’ve been making improvements all weekend but I needed a better lap at the end. But I’m grateful to have just been there.”
The Jeddah street circuit is tight and high-speed, meaning few opportunities to overtake. Aware of that, Hamilton did not sound too confident that he will be able to make up much ground in Sunday’s race.
Asked if he is hoping to make progress, he smirked as he replied: “Praying, more like. Trying to bond with this car on a single lap is something that I’m finding very difficult at the moment. But I’ll keep pushing and trying. I’ve got some amazing support so I’ll keep working hard.”
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Qualifying has not been Hamilton’s strength for some time – it was the part of a race weekend he struggled with the most even in his final season with Mercedes. And his struggles to adapt to Ferrari machinery have not helped on that front.
But Ferrari’s problems certainly are not limited to any personal failure of Hamilton. Team-mate Charles Leclerc has been settled with the team for years but he too has not been able to threaten at the very sharp end of the grid so far in 2025.
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After qualifying fourth for the Jeddah race, the Monegasque said: “I’m not pleased with P4. I’m satisfied with my driving and I have understood how to maximise the car’s potential, but unfortunately, this is the most we can extract from it at the moment.
“We just don’t have enough grip to carry the kind of speed our competitors are carrying through certain corners, and we have to analyse that. I don’t expect any miracles tomorrow, but if we have a good start, a podium could be on the cards. I will give it everything to make that happen.”
Max Verstappen was the surprise pole-sitter considering how Red Bull have struggled for pace at times this year. But he was hooked up enough to go fastest overall at the end of qualifying, breaking the Jeddah Corniche Circuit track record in the process.
Lando Norris might have stopped him but never got the chance after crashing on his first flying lap of Q3, condemning him to 10th place on the grid. His McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri could only manage second place and will share the front row of the grid with Verstappen.
