After finishing sixth at the Singapore Grand Prix, and being thoroughly outpaced by Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren, Charles Leclerc did not express confidence that Ferrari are set for an imminent improvement throughout the rest of 2025.
Always a step behind the benchmark, McLaren, throughout the season, arguably the squad’s best hope of title glory for the first time in 17 years evaporated quickly.
And with six races left, McLaren clinched the constructors’ championship while Ferrari are sat in third place and look set to tumble down to fourth, such is the resurgence of Red Bull and Mx Verstappen.
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Leclerc, who has not even stood on the top step of the podium in 2025, does not think that the season’s remainder will suddenly become even more comforting for the Scuderia, he told formula1.com: “It’s tough, it’s very tough. We are not strong at the moment, and we are struggling massively with the car. It’s not easy.
“I wish I could say that I’m positive for the rest of the season, I don’t think there’s anything in the car that proves to me that we are going to do a step forward.
“I think this is the reality of the situation, at the moment. I don’t quite know how to turn that situation around because we don’t have new parts or anything coming to the car.”
Leclerc spent much of the Singapore Grand Prix managing his brakes, with the phrase ‘LiCo’ (meaning lift and coast, to ensure the maximum stress is not through various components of the car) somewhat summarising their campaign.
It is not just the brakes that Ferrari have had to manage in-race, it is their floor as well. At the second round of the year, the Chinese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was disqualified as a consequence of the floor of the car running too close to the track, and wearing it off too much.
As a response, Ferrari have had to lift the floor, which has cost them downforce and speed, given that these cars flourish the closer it is to the surface of the track.
This stark warning from Leclerc comes at a time of year in which Ferrari revelled in 2024. The next two races, the United States and Mexico City Grand Prix, were both tracks in which they won at last year, as they pushed McLaren all the way until the final race in a battle for the constructors’ championship.
But not even contending for this season’s title, let alone winning a race, 2025 can only be remembered as an enormous missed opportunity for the team in red.
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