Charles Leclerc says Ferrari’s 2025 Formula 1 campaign has left him and Lewis Hamilton powerless to fight at the front. The Monegasque driver believes both are now “passengers” in the underperforming SF-25, with limited ability to influence results or reach podium places. Despite strong ambitions after 2024’s near title challenge, Ferrari has fallen behind McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes in outright pace.
Brake Woes and Missed Opportunities for Ferrari
Ferrari’s season has taken a difficult turn, highlighted by disappointing weekends in Baku and Singapore where the team failed to break into the top five in qualifying or on race day. At Marina Bay, persistent brake issues made the car even harder to manage.
“From lap 8, basically, it was all about managing those brakes,” Leclerc said after finishing sixth in Singapore, while Hamilton took eighth place. “I think everybody has to manage, to a certain extent, on a track like this. But I think we were on the worst side of things and that makes it extremely difficult. Our whole race was very tricky.”
Strategic calls also backfired. In Baku, Leclerc moved aside to give Lewis Hamilton a shot at chasing down rivals, but the Briton didn’t return the place. A similar plan was intended for Singapore, yet worsening brake issues dropped Hamilton behind regardless.
Leclerc: Ferrari Lacks Performance to Compete
Charles Leclerc believes the bigger issue lies in the SF-25’s lack of speed, not team decisions. “I really don’t think that this is the biggest problem of the team at the moment,” he stated.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have the race car to fight with the guys in front. McLaren has always had the same gap on us compared to the beginning of the year. Red Bull did a step from Monza and had the same level of McLaren. Mercedes now is at the same level of McLaren and Red Bull, and then there’s us.
“It’s not easy, obviously, because you want to fight for better positions. But at the moment, it just feels like we’re kind of passengers to the car and we cannot extract much more.”
The unpredictable nature of the SF-25 only makes things harder. After qualifying, Leclerc described the car as understeery yet “still very snappy and unpredictable,” highlighting how difficult it is to find consistency.
Gloomy Outlook for the Final Races
With six races left, Leclerc does not expect Ferrari’s situation to improve. “The picture we’ve seen this weekend is going to be what the rest of the season looks like for us,” he said.
It is a frustrating reality for the 27-time polesitter and eight-time race winner, who hasn’t faced such a lack of performance since 2021. Ferrari, which narrowly missed out on the 2024 constructors’ crown to McLaren by 14 points, now struggles to stay in the fight at the front.
“Obviously, coming from a year like last year, where you are fighting for the world constructors’ championship and then you come here with high expectations, you come low of your expectations from the beginning and you don’t even see a progression throughout the year, it’s not easy,” Leclerc explained.
Despite the disappointment, Leclerc’s determination remains intact. “It takes a lot of energy, but that doesn’t demotivate me,” he said. “It motivates me, if anything, much more to try and turn the situation around.”
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