Charles Leclerc did not mince his words when summarising Ferrari‘s underwhelming 2025 Formula 1 season, as he grapples with a potentially winless campaign.
Missing out on the 2024 Constructors’ Championship, 2025 was to be the dawn of a new era as Ferrari aimed to use that momentum to end its 16-year title drought.
Instead, the season has proved nothing short of a nightmare, with no wins and questionable strategy calls leading to missed opportunities during a frustrating year.
The Singapore Grand Prix demonstrated the scale of the decline, with Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton behind both McLarens, Mercedes and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Leclerc has provided solace with five podium finishes, but the Italian marque’s competitiveness has regressed compared to the competition during the development race.
The Monegasque did not label one particular area to blame when asked to pinpoint the source of Ferrari’s issues, but instead delivered a damning verdict on its performance.
“We are all disappointed as a team,” Leclerc expressed to media including Motorsport Week.
“Especially with Ferrari you are always targeting to be back on top and not to fight for second, third, or fourth place in the Constructors’. That’s not what we want.
“We are not happy, and we’ve got to do better.
“That’s very clear for every member of the team. Honestly, if I knew exactly the area where we are lacking, it would be easy work.
“It’s not as easy as that but what I can say is that Mercedes, Red Bull, and ourselves kind of did the same step from last year to this year.
“But there’s one team that found something special, and that is McLaren.”
Ferrari knows where deficit to rivals lies
Leclerc outlined the need to gain a grasp on the situation, adding that rivals might have already begun to make in-roads into the advantage that McLaren’s harboured.
“Now it’s up to us to understand what they’ve done so special in order to close that gap.
“I think Red Bull probably found part of the solution – we could see that in the last few races.
“Ourselves didn’t yet, and we are working towards that. We know the areas; how we achieve that is another story, and there’s a lot of work to understand and find the solutions.
“McLaren did a step that nobody else did.”
READ MORE – Charles Leclerc makes alarming revelation on Ferrari F1 form
Discussion about this post