Lewis Hamilton explains extent of horror Ferrari issues

Lewis Hamilton has opened up on the extent of the issues he faced during the sprint race in Qatar on Saturday.

Hamilton started the race from the pit lane as Ferrari opted to make several changes to his car following his SQ1 elimination.

However, the seven-time champion still found the car a handful to drive during the race and took the chequered flag in 17th place.

Hamilton voiced his disbelief over team radio after the chequered flag, stating: "I don't know how we made the car worse".

The 40-year-old then offered an insight into how much he was struggling behind the wheel, listing the various issues he endured.

“We started from the pit lane because we wanted to explore and make some changes,” Hamilton said.

“They had some things they found on the simulator last night, so we implemented those changes.

“The car was really in the wrong direction and very, very difficult for whatever reason, clearly for both of us.

“We just don't have any stability. When I say that, it’s the rear end is not planted, it's sliding, snapping a lot.

“Then we have bouncing. When you're going into corners like Turn 10, the thing starts bouncing.

“We have a lot of mid-corner understeer, and then you apply the steering, then it snaps, and you try and catch it.

“It's different between low, medium and high. It's a fight like you couldn't believe.”

Team-mate Charles Leclerc endured similar struggles and crossed the line in 13th, having lost a handful of positions after running wide on the opening lap.

The Monegasque concurred with Hamilton over the negative direction of the car's handling, as he too was left mystified by the root cause.

“I have no idea how that happened,” Leclerc said. “From qualifying to today, the feeling has changed completely and I don't really know where it's coming from.

“It's definitely experience for tonight and see, but I agree with Lewis that today was extremely difficult, to not say worse than that.

“The first lap was just I was struggling to keep the car on track, lost four or five positions, and then still a lot of mistakes, because it was extremely, extremely difficult to drive.”