Charles Leclerc has dismissed a potential theory behind Ferrari’s loss of performance in recent Formula 1 races in 2025 as a “coincidence”.
Ferrari has struggled to find sufficient pace during the ongoing campaign, unable to live up to the pre-season billing that it could be a title contender.
And the Italian marque’s competitiveness has dipped further, with the team failing to capitalise on Lewis Hamilton’s Sprint race success in China.
This has led to speculation that Hamilton’s success was partly down to being able to run to car lower to the ground, a theory exacerbated by the team’s subsequent double disqualification from the following day’s Grand Prix for plank wear.
The team struggled in Miami, and despite another Hamilton podium appearance in the Sprint, the race did not go according to plan.
Qualifying eighth and 12th, Leclerc and Hamilton rallied in the race but laboured to seventh and eighth place respectively, finding themselves in a battle with the likes of Williams and not the other three leading teams.
Speaking after the race, Leclerc was quick to deny that the obstacle of the lower running of the car was in any way responsible for the poor result.
“I think it’s coincidence because we didn’t change anything,” he said. “I know what you’re speaking about and we haven’t changed anything of that,” Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week
“So yeah, we are just not fast and whatever we do with the car, we can run it in different ways, but we just don’t have the downforce that the others have at the moment, especially at low speeds.”
Ferrari drivers aligned on current struggles
Focus on the higher ground running issues affecting Ferrari are perhaps clouding another problem that is dogging the SF-25 so far: its rear suspension.
The pull-rod mechanism – which is mounted from a diagonal angle from the suspension to the top of the wheel assembly – is not rigid enough to provide stability to the car.
This has been working in tandem with the flat bottom of the car, which is causing the engineers a headache in finding the optimum settings in race trim.
Such a problem has left Hamilton commenting that the car feels “alien” to him, and saying that he feels “something is holding us back” since his China triumph.
It is suspected that new upgrades might feature in the coming races, which Ferrari will be hopeful can instigate a turnaround in form.
However, these issues have been overshadowed by the team orders drama that played out during the race, with Hamilton venting his frustration at the team for failing to be more decisive in switching him and Leclerc around.
Both Hamilton and team boss Fred Vasseur poured cold water on the issue immediately, with Hamilton reasoning that testy exchanges are all part of what happens during a Grand Prix.
Leclerc seemed to corroborate this, and also played down how much the confusion prevented both cars from finishing any higher.
“We need to [join forces], we need to for sure. I think we will be quite aligned,” he said.
“On the fact that today wasn’t the Sunday we wanted, and even though the pace is not there, I don’t think there were any miracles.
“If everything would have gone perfectly, maybe we would have finished in front of Kimi, but that’s it.
“There wasn’t much more in the car, so I think we need to separate the two things.
“Yes, we need to fix those issues that probably cost us one position, but the other seven or six positions are down to the car. This we need to make it better.”
READ MORE – Ferrari highlights the SF-25 limitation preventing a ‘step forward’
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