Since Ferrari returned home this season, it has been on an excellent run of form. At the Italian GP, Carlos Sainz qualified on pole, with Charles Leclerc in P3. Converting these into a P3 and P4—Sainz ahead of Leclerc, Ferrari had good momentum going into Singapore. There, Sainz got pole again with Leclerc in P3. The Spaniard converted his pole to a win, and Leclerc finished in P4. At the Japanese GP the following weekend, the Ferrari boys maximized their results again with a P4 and P6—Leclerc ahead of Sainz. There seemed to be this cohesiveness that hadn’t been there in the first half of the season. That was until the Qatar GP.

Right off the bat, Carlos Sainz had misfiring issues with the SF-23 on a newly resurfaced Lusail Circuit. That coupled with a feeling of imbalance with the car, he could only manage a P12 in qualifying. Sprint Saturday, though, was much better. While the misfiring issue continued, Sainz exhibited a decent pace throughout the day. He went into Sunday on a good note, only to be let down by his team.

Sunday was sympathy galore for Carlos Sainz

An hour before the race started, a Ferrari spokesperson said, “Due to a fuel system issue on his car, Carlos will not take part in the Qatar GP.” While Sainz looked to make amends for Friday on Sunday, Ferrari ensured he didn’t even see the start line. Former Ferrari General Manager Peter Windsor wasn’t too pleased with the situation. Considering he’s been affiliated with the sport for quite some time, he felt the Sainz situation was bizarre.

In his post-race debrief on YouTube, Windsor said, “One hour before the race, Ferrari announced that Carlos Sainz wouldn’t be starting due to what they call a ‘fuel system problem.’ This is a 2023, super complicated, unbelievably sophisticated Grand Prix car. The fuel system problem couldn’t be fixed. Carlos Sainz out of the Grand Prix, unable to start. That hasn’t happened for a long time.” With Sainz ruled out, Leclerc was the only Ferrari man on track, making the Qatar GP a missed opportunity for the Scuderia.

But that didn’t stop Leclerc from sympathizing with his teammate. After an extremely tough race, the Monegasque finished P5. Selfless as always, before giving himself props for his performance, he talked about Sainz. In a post on X, he wrote, “Feeling sorry for Carlos for the issue on his car. Crossed the finish line P5, it was the maximum we could’ve done. By far the hardest race of my career physically😅 Big congrats to Max for winning his 3rd championship!”

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Although P5 may not sound like a big achievement for a driver who’s finished P4 in the past three races, considering the conditions in Qatar, it was. And he was proud of his performance.

The Qatar GP was a W for Charles Leclerc but an L for Ferrari

The Qatar GP was nothing short of torture for drivers. With the extremely high humidity and 40C+ track temperatures, the race left every driver who finished utterly dehydrated. The high-speed corners of Lusail didn’t help either. To add to that, because of Pirelli’s 18-lap tire usage limit, all 57 laps of the race were like qualifying laps, demanding the most of the drivers. So, any driver who finished the race was as good as a winner. In his post-race interview, Leclerc said, “We maximized our potential today. It was a case of damage limitation, with Carlos already out just before the start. Physically, it was the toughest race of my career.”

While Leclerc maximized his result, Ferrari didn’t. With one car already out, it started the race at a disadvantage compared to its P2 rival, Mercedes. But after a first-lap all-Mercedes crash that took out Lewis Hamilton and dropped George Russell to the back, should’ve ensured Ferrari scored more points than Mercedes. Instead, Russell finished ahead of Leclerc in P4 despite a four-stop strategy. Talking about this, Windsor said, “Very disappointing, really, to get blown away by George [Russell] after the incident he had. Fair enough [Ferrari] got beaten by McLaren, but [Leclerc] shouldn’t have gotten beaten by George. Not a good day for Ferrari at all.”

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What were your thoughts on the Qatar GP? Do you think Ferrari can bounce back in the US GP?