Lewis Hamilton 'Breaks Ferrari Protocol' After Dismal Qatar GP Sprint

Lewis Hamilton appeared to break Ferrari protocol after a dismal Qatar Grand Prix Sprint.

On Saturday, Oscar Piastri reignited his title charge by finishing first in the Qatar Sprint ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell and McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, who is also firmly in the hunt for the world championship, finished in fourth place.

As a result, with two Grands Prix left to run, Norris' lead has been cut to 22 points.

Further down the grid, it was another miserable evening for Hamilton and Ferrari as he finished in 17th place after a horrible qualifying session left him starting from P18.

The seven-time world champion failed to make any overtakes during the race and was again left disappointed at the chequered flag.

Reacting on his team radio, Hamilton said: "I don't know how we made the car worse."

Speaking in the media area after the Sprint, Hamilton appared to break team protocol as he openly discussed problems he had with the SF-25.

Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix earlier in the season, Hamilton appeared to reveal that Ferrari 'doesn't want' him and Charles Leclerc speaking about car issues publicly.

As per Sky Sports, the 40-year-old said at the time: "Unfortunately the team don't really want us to talk about it but we both had issues that were hindering us massively from halfway through the race."

Speaking in Qatar, Hamilton said driving the SF-25 is 'a fight like you couldn't believe' and also spoke about the lack of stability.

Hamilton said: "We started from the pit lane because we wanted to explore and make some changes. They had some things they found on the simulator last night.

"So we implemented those changes and the car was really in the wrong direction and very, very difficult for whatever reason, clearly for both us."

He continued: "But we just don’t have any stability. When I say that, (I mean) the rear end is not planted, so it’s sliding, snapping a lot. Then we have bouncing, so 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 and then it snaps and you try to catch it.

"It’s different between low, medium and high (speed), and it’s a fight like you couldn’t believe."