The closest Charles Leclerc has been to the winner of a grand prix on the chequered flag this season has been 8.104 seconds.
Even that margin, for his third-place end final day out in Saudi Arabia, is one thing of an outlier within the opening 5 rounds of 2025 – fourth place and almost 20s off the lead in Bahrain, a distant and subsequently disqualified fifth in China, to call however two.
The SF-25’s close-but-no-cigar race tempo, and Lewis Hamilton’s manifest difficulties adapting to the automotive’s behaviour, render Hamilton’s victory within the China dash all of the extra inexplicable.
Whereas Leclerc has loved a bonus by way of being accustomed to ‘baked in’ automotive traits, such because the engine braking which has been giving Hamilton a lot bother, even he has needed to adapt and compromise.
Because the ground-effect rule set matures, efficiency positive aspects have been tougher to seek out, and the end result has been narrower gaps between the main vehicles – and several other drivers reporting their equipment has developed bothersome vices on the restrict.
“It is all the time very tough to match drivers’ emotions,” Leclerc stated forward of this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, “as a result of in case you do not feel comfy, there’s all the time one thing that you simply battle with greater than the opposite driver, and that is why you may’t go as quick.
“On my facet, this yr we have gone in fairly excessive instructions by way of set-up with a purpose to extract a bit extra out of the automotive, so I really feel like I am altering numerous my driving type with a purpose to match the brand new necessities from this automotive.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Picture by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Photos
The Suzuka race, spherical three of 2025, was the turning level. That was the place Leclerc first adopted the set-up method he describes as “extra excessive”, based mostly on a sense he stated he’d had for a very long time.
Not that he’s minded to elucidate about what that entails.
“I am not clearly going to go an excessive amount of into particulars,” he stated, “but it surely simply makes the automotive somewhat bit trickier – very, very pointy, and that is fairly difficult to drive, particularly when you’re on the restrict in qualifying, but it surely’s one thing that I like, that I’ve all the time appreciated in my profession.
“But it surely takes just a few races with a purpose to readapt all the pieces across the automotive, with a purpose to go into that route, which is the method we’re going via in the mean time, that within the final races have been paying off.
“However that does not essentially imply that it’s going to repay for each race, so we nonetheless have to hold that open-minded method and guarantee that we will reverse simply in case we have to.
“We’re nonetheless exploring in that route and nonetheless pushing into that route, as a result of for now we’re solely seeing advantages, at the very least on my facet.”
By ‘pointier’ he means a stronger entrance finish coming with the inherent compromise of the rear finish being barely twitchy. The automotive turns in additional eagerly but additionally has a propensity to oversteer.
Since Leclerc admits to being understeer-averse, that is really a set-up route from which he can derive a profit – as long as he can hold the rear finish below management.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Picture by: Ferrari
This might additionally clarify why Hamilton hasn’t seen the identical advantages regardless of evaluating a broadly comparable setup: the seven-time champion prefers a predictable and firmly planted rear axle.
For the previous two grands prix that has left him half a second slower in qualifying than Leclerc – and within the present setting that equates to a number of grid positions.
Whereas a story has been gaining momentum that Hamilton will battle all yr, it stays attainable that the phased improve package deal Ferrari will start introducing on the subsequent spherical in Imola will mitigate a few of that rear-end instability.
Leclerc not solely backs his team-mate to make the soar, he suggests the contemporary perspective Hamilton brings from one other working setting helps the Scuderia.
“I believe it is all the time very difficult once you get and be part of a brand new group to get on with the brand new techniques, with the brand new means of working, with the brand new automotive,” he stated of Hamilton, who joined Ferrari for 2025 after 12 seasons with Mercedes
“So, clearly on my facet I am absolutely targeted on myself and making an attempt to extract the utmost out of myself, out of the automotive, and that already requires quite a lot of work. However I am positive Lewis will get there and truthfully he bought such an amazing win in China.
“There’s nonetheless rather a lot to be taught, however I already discovered rather a lot from Lewis. So, it is nice to have him within the group and to problem the way in which we’ve completed issues for a lot of, a few years – and likewise give a contemporary view on how we method various things.
“On that we have discovered rather a lot already.”
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Images from Miami GP – Thursday
Learn Additionally:
On this article
Stuart Codling
System 1
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
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