Last year, Ferrari reigned supreme at the Monaco Grand Prix, but this year it is already bracing itself for a testing weekend against its Formula 1 rivals.
The Scuderia got a slice of better fortune in the principality last year, with Charles Leclerc finally taking victory in his home nation.
2025, however, has not been kind to the prancing horse, with one Sprint win and one Grand Prix podium the best of its showing so far.
With a distinct emphasis on qualifying being made by teams, Leclerc believes that the he and his team are in for a tough weekend in his homeland.
“A very difficult weekend,” he told media, including Motorsport Week, when asked what he anticipated. “I think Monaco is exposing quite a few weaknesses of our car. There are also many things that you cannot really expect in Monaco.
“The amount of risk you take in qualifying. The car is set up in a very different way. I hope we will be surprised.”
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton recognised the issues Ferrari has faced in qualifying, and intimated he is hopeful of being able to implement changes through his own experience.
Asked by media, including Motorsport Week, if Leclerc’s downcast assessment was likely an accurate one, Hamilton did not commit but was not raising the bar high.
“Yeah, I’m not sure either,” he said. “We’ve been struggling, particularly on the single lap. So I don’t know how that’s going to go.
“I’ve got some ideas that I’m going to try and apply [this week]. They’ve been a little bit reluctant to do it, I think it’s because we’ve had lots of other things to focus on.
“But I’m hoping [this week] we can find something to go on, some more performance. I really don’t know how this is going to go.”
Monaco the place for Ferrari to ‘understand’ its problems
Team boss Fred Vasseur took a more rational approach towards the potential impending struggle that Monaco may provide.
The team enjoyed a bright performance during the race in Imola last weekend, with Hamilton and Leclerc finishing fourth and sixth respectively.
But their weekend got off to a rocky start, both missing out on a place in Q3 in qualifying, making their raceday harder.
Vasseur diplomatically suggested that if the team fails to produce enough pace to warrant a race win or podium, then it can chalk it up as experience towards a long-term solution to the problems.
“I worry if we are not able to do a better job than this weekend,” he told media, including Motorsport Week. For sure the weekend will be much more difficult next week.
“Now at Monaco it’s a different story in terms of tyre management, preparation and so on. We start from scratch and step by step we will catch up, we will understand the issue and we will do a better job in the future.
“In Monaco I don’t know if we will be ready, but again Monaco is another story.”
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