Charles Leclerc has denied the notion that a “silver bullet” has been responsible for Ferrari’s continued turnaround in qualifying at Formula 1‘s Mexico City Grand Prix.
Finding over seven-tenths of a second from his first lap of Q3, Leclerc shot to the top of the timesheets, catching the dominant Lando Norris and McLaren by surprise.
His second pole position of 2025 looked in his grasp at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, only for Norris to then dash his hopes in the dying seconds of qualifying.
But despite being satisfied with his initial Q3 run and sensing Norris was out of reach, Leclerc couldn’t hide his disappointment at missing out on pole right at the end.
“A little bit [disappointed],” he admitted to media including Motorsport Week. “But yeah, after the first lap in Q3, I thought this was a really good lap.
“So I knew there was a little bit more to come, but not so much.
“But considering the gaps that were behind, I was like, ‘OK, let’s see how it goes. I will still go flat out on the second lap and see where we end up.’
“But I was very surprised, obviously, by the jump Lando did from the first to the second run in Q3.
“I just don’t think we had the pace today to match that. There was a little bit here and there, but I don’t think it would have been enough for pole position anyway.”
Leclerc highlighted the narrow window between success and failure around the circuit, highlighting that the low grip conditions can punish even the smallest error.
“I think the car was actually really good today. The whole weekend has been pretty strong,” he added.
“But on a track like this, it’s very difficult because it’s such a low grip track, and it’s very easy to make a mistake.
“Whatever small mistake you do is exaggerated in terms of lap time lost. So it was very tough, but I was pretty happy with both of my laps in Q3.
The Monegasque played down the pace he found between Q2 and Q3, revealing he did not unleash his true pace on his final Q2 lap as he conducted it on used tyres.
“Well, I kept a new Soft for the race,” he pinpointed.
“So yeah, in Q2, I had done my lap early on in Q2 compared to most of the others that had put a second set. I went on a scrubbed tyre then.
“So obviously there was a little bit of a gap there more than anything.
“But the lap time came quite nicely. I was quite confident with the car, so I knew where I had to push and where I had to improve.
“Everything came together very nicely on that first lap in Q3 – just like, honestly, the second lap in Q3 as well.
“But I think the biggest explanation is mostly that I only put one set in Q2 when most of the others went for two.”
Leclerc insists no ‘silver bullet’ behind Ferrari revival
Despite the welcome rest-bite from a season tinged with disappointment, Leclerc warned against suggestions Ferrari had suddenly turned a corner in recent rounds.
But with team-mate Lewis Hamilton ensuring both drivers placed inside the top three, the Monegasque outlined that gradual improvements have been instrumental.
“I don’t think there’s a silver bullet or something that we’ve changed significantly that makes us a lot better now than three, four, five races ago,” he addressed.
“I think it’s a little bit everywhere.
“Like Lewis was saying, I think the processes and all the small differences make a big difference at the end, and we improved all that in the last few weekends.”
READ MORE – Why Lewis Hamilton rued Ferrari’s best qualifying showing of 2025 at F1 Mexico GP
Discussion about this post