Even the team bosses are critical: Why Formula 1 experienced the “worst case scenario” in Qatar and how the Grand Prix could be made more exciting
After the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix, Formula 1 record winner Lewis Hamilton sharply criticized the race event at the Lusail International Circuit near Doha, calling it “probably the worst race.” It must have been “pretty bad” for the spectators, Hamilton said.
The Ferrari driver explained: “The track is fast and fantastic to drive, but unfortunately it’s like Monaco: you can’t overtake.” This was made even more difficult by the Pirelli tire specification with a maximum of 25 laps per set of tires. As a result, the teams had “no flexibility” in their race strategy: “Everyone stopped at the same time.”
For Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur, this was the “worst case scenario” – an early safety car phase at the beginning of the window that would allow the rest of the race to proceed according to “schedule.” “It meant that everyone stopped under yellow to then drive twice 25 laps on their tires. And in this case, I don’t think anyone overtook a car.”
Toto Wolff: Formula 1 must do exactly the opposite
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also regrets the lack of strategic diversity in the Grand Prix. He said: “A mandatory two-stop strategy never works. I had that in the DTM, where we tried all the variations: mandatory stops, mandatory stops in a certain window, playing around with the tires.”
Wolff therefore proposes exactly the opposite: free competition. “You have to let the strategies develop. You have to let people drive a one-stop strategy and then see them struggle with degrading tires, while others go for two stops and work their way back to the front with pure pace. That’s what’s needed,” said Wolff.
According to Hamilton, Qatar also needed a longer DRS zone on the home straight. He himself raised the issue at Friday’s drivers’ briefing. “I asked the question: ‘You saw last year that there was no overtaking. Why didn’t you extend the DRS zone?’ The only response was: ‘We didn’t think about that.’ And I said, ‘What are you doing?’“
Are changes needed to the race track?
Wolff agrees with Hamilton on this point and says, ”Extending the DRS zone would be the easiest way to create an overtaking opportunity.” However, the Mercedes team boss would go one step further and “make Turn 1 tighter—in combination with the DRS zone.” Wolff believes: “You should take a look at the layout.”
Hamilton would also shorten the pit lane if he had the chance.
“It takes 26 seconds to drive through, but at the end of the pit lane there is an area that seems unnecessarily long. You could end the pit lane earlier because it starts extremely early,” Hamilton explained. That would reduce the drive-through time and make pit stops more attractive. Or is it simply the Formula 1 cars that are to blame for everything?
Vasseur points to the low tire wear in Qatar and the high amount of “dirty air” when driving behind another car: “We saw it on the last lap when Russell had a clear run. He was a second faster. That shows that we are limited more by the turbulent air from the car in front than anything else.”
