Charles Leclerc has insisted Ferrari is maximising the tempo of its 2025 Formulation 1 automobile, which makes it all of the extra irritating when his greatest Miami Grand Prix qualifying effort solely left him eighth on the grid.
Leclerc, who missed Saturday’s dash race after aquaplaning into the wall on his technique to the grid, and team-mate Lewis Hamilton each struggled for efficiency in a dry qualifying session for Sunday’s principal grand prix.
However Leclerc might solely handle eighth, 0.550s off Max Verstappen’s pole and behind each Williams vehicles, whereas Hamilton was narrowly dumped out in Q2 and can line up twelfth.
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Essentially the most worrying side for Leclerc is that he truly felt his ultimate qualifying effort was slightly good, demonstrating that Ferrari is simply missing the uncooked efficiency to compete with McLaren, Purple Bull or Mercedes.
“It’s irritating,” he admitted. “To be trustworthy, much more irritating is that this weekend I felt like we’re maximising the potential of the automobile. It is simply that the potential of the automobile is simply not there. As we speak in qualifying I felt very happy with my lap, nevertheless it’s solely bringing us no matter it’s, P8 or one thing…
“We’re simply not quick. No matter we do with the automobile – we will run it in numerous methods, however we simply do not have the downforce that the others have for the time being.”
Miami highlights Ferrari’s low-speed weak spot
Whereas Leclerc was in a position to drive to the rostrum on the high-speed Jeddah avenue circuit two weeks in the past, he says Ferrari is being uncovered much more on the 5.41km Miami Worldwide Autodrome, which is dominated by slower corners.
“I believe a observe like this additionally highlights our weaknesses,” he identified. “There are quite a lot of low-speed corners, and each Williams [cars] are in entrance of us – and I take into account my lap a superb one. So, I believe it is fairly simple to know the place we’re missing.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photograph by: Clive Rose / Getty Photographs
When requested about his crash earlier than the beginning of the wet-to-dry dash race, Leclerc mentioned it was a mistake to finish the laps to the grid on intermediates whereas there was quite a lot of standing water on the observe.
“Within the first place the error was to be out on inter tyres with these observe circumstances,” he mentioned. “We have to perceive what we have accomplished mistaken as a workforce, however clearly I believe this was the principle mistake that then value us loads.
“Clearly, that made the entire day much more troublesome for the mechanics and for me as effectively, not doing as many laps as others, however I do not really feel like I’ve paid the worth of it right now. We have been simply not quick sufficient.”
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Photographs from Miami GP – Dash and Qualifying
On this article
Filip Cleeren
Formulation 1
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
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