Jenson Button thinks ‘everyone’ at Ferrari is ‘afraid’ after what he saw at the Singapore Grand Prix

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Ferrari produced another disappointing qualifying session during the 2025 F1 season at the Singapore Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton only P6 and Charles Leclerc just P7.

The Scuderia once again failed to equal the pace of their frontrunning rivals over a single lap. Hamilton and Leclerc were 0.530 and 0.626 seconds off the pace in qualifying at Marina Bay, as George Russell scored pole position for the Singapore GP with a 1:29.158 lap on Saturday.

Russell’s flying effort in Q3 marks Mercedes’ first pole position at Marina Bay since Hamilton scored pole for the 2018 Singapore GP, with one of the greatest qualifying laps in F1 history. But while Hamilton’s old team can celebrate again in 2025, alarm bells are ringing at Ferrari.

Saturday was the latest sorry showing for the Scuderia in a qualifying session in the 2025 F1 season so far. After Leclerc claimed pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the start of August, Ferrari also qualified P6 and P7 at Zandvoort, P4 and P5 at Monza plus P10 and P12 in Baku.

Jenson Button thinks ‘everyone’ at Ferrari is now ‘afraid’ of making a mistake

Leclerc nearly exited qualifying during Q2 in Singapore on Saturday, as well, having been last in the timesheets when the 27-year-old started his last flying lap to try to get into the top 10 shootout. The Monegasque regularly struggled for grip throughout qualifying at Marina Bay.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

The mood in the Ferrari garage during qualifying for the Singapore GP even got the attention of Jenson Button, who fears “everyone” at the Scuderia is now “afraid” of making a mistake. The 2009 champion feels Ferrari’s mechanics are working in fear that they may get replaced.

Button told Sky Sports F1 (04/10, 15:54): “You can’t be afraid to fail, and that’s what it feels like at Ferrari. I think everyone feels it’s easy to be pushed out the door, and it’s not a nice feeling to have.

“You need to have consistency throughout the team, it gives everyone confidence and the drivers confidence. So, I hope that’s not the case next year.

“I hope that they see out the whole year together because there’s going to be so much change for the first race, but also the 24th race of the year. So much is going to change throughout the year.

“It is a great team, and I think it has really great leadership, and you don’t get a better driver line-up than that.”

George Russell’s Singapore pole could be huge for Mercedes’ constructors’ standings fight with Ferrari

The Singapore GP weekend has proven to be rather shambolic for Ferrari, on and technically off the track so far. Ferrari were fined for releasing Leclerc into Lando Norris during practice, with the contact in the pit lane on Friday leaving the McLaren man with a broken front wing.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2025 F1 Singapore Grand Prix

A disappointing result in qualifying for the Singapore GP on Saturday would then only add to the tense mood in the Ferrari garage, which has alarmed Button. Not only did Mercedes seal pole with Russell, a Red Bull plus both Silver Arrows and McLarens were quicker than Ferrari.

Only Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda failed to qualify on the front four rows of the Singapore GP grid among the top four teams at Marina Bay, with the Japanese driver only P15 in qualifying and out in Q2 with a 1:30.353. Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls rounded out the front four rows in P8.

Hamilton, as the lead Ferrari driver, was also 0.530s slower than the quickest Mercedes with polesitter Russell, 0.348s to the fastest Red Bull with Max Verstappen in P2 and 0.164s shy of the fastest McLaren with Oscar Piastri in P3. Ferrari will now hope their race pace is better.

Ferrari’s struggles for speed at Marina Bay may also start to swing the fight for second place in the F1 constructors’ standings away from the Scuderia, should their struggles continue in the Singapore GP. Mercedes lead Ferrari for second place by four points, plus Red Bull by 18.