Charles Leclerc admitted that an upgraded floor on the Ferrari SF-25 is no match for McLaren at the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, with the Monegasque saying the Woking-based squad is “on another planet.”
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished FP2 at the Bahrain International Circuit first and second, with nearly half a second’s margin over the rest of the field.
Coming into the weekend, Leclerc hoped a new floor on his Ferrari would help claw back the deficit his team has to McLaren, but he finished FP2 in fourth, 0.540s off of Piastri’s benchmark.
While the upgrades to the SF-25 have worked as expected, it isn’t enough to turn the Scuderia into a contender this weekend.
“To be honest, the potential of the car remains the same and and we’re just not fast enough when we look at the McLaren, they are just on another planet for now,” Leclerc said.
“It’s annoying, but it’s the way it is, and it actually motivates me to try and close that gap as soon as possible. But they are incredibly fast.”
Leclerc hopeful Ferrari can get back to winning ways
Leclerc said that the upgrades are working is a “positive,” but added, “unfortunately, the gap to McLaren is still too big.
“We’ve got to maximise the car potential that we have for now, if that means finishing third or fifth, I don’t know what that will be, but we’ll have to take it and I hope that at one point we’ll be back at being the fastest car on track,” Leclerc continued.
“Then it will be a matter of maximising the car again, but for wins and not for p3 anymore.”
This weekend, Leclerc feels Ferrari is on a par with Mercedes, but remains unsure what Max Verstappen and Red Bull are capable of.
“With Mercedes, it seems that we are pretty much there, with Red Bull it’s a bit more difficult,” Leclerc opined.
“I think Max only had one less tyre compared to us in FP2. So I think he’s probably a bit in front.
“But we’ve got to wait and see again, I think there’s some performance still to be found on our side, maximising the car upgrade, and we’ll see tomorrow.”
Lewis Hamilton agreed that “the upgrade is definitely working,” but added an explanation as to what Ferrari is missing to be more competitive.
“Just consistency, just trying to get, pulling the laps together, having a car that’s easy to drive, that’s consistent through the lap,” Hamilton noted.
READ MORE – Charles Leclerc denies 2025 Ferrari F1 car a downgrade on SF-24 predecessor
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