You’d forgive Charles Leclerc for having had lofty expectations for the 2025 Formulation 1 season. In any case, Ferrari did narrowly miss out on the constructors’ world title final yr, so the staff was anticipated to be on the entrance of the sector once more.
It didn’t fairly go that method, and Leclerc’s seventh season with the Scuderia arguably was his worst since 2021 – at the very least by way of outcomes.
However there’s not a lot responsible the Monegasque for. Leclerc had one thing to show alongside incoming seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who had by no means been constantly outperformed by a team-mate; in the long run, he was not often matched by the Briton.
Having been considerably of a qualifying specialist, Leclerc didn’t fairly shine as a lot as he used to because the SF-25 was much less aggressive than its predecessors, however he nonetheless reached Q3 on 29 events, with the highest 10 solely eluding him in Imola – the place he nonetheless outqualified Hamilton.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Picture by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Pictures by way of Getty Pictures
Leclerc significantly shone on slower tracks. In a processional Monaco race, Leclerc completed second after qualifying in that very same spot; in Hungary, he took pole just some hundredths forward of the McLarens and led the race early on earlier than a technical subject dropped him out of the rostrum positions. He nonetheless managed seven top-three finishes total, when Hamilton failed to attain one in any respect.
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However the Ferrari golden child was the staff participant as ever. When his dominance over Hamilton was introduced up, he would insist that his solely aim was to carry Ferrari again to the highest: “Lewis shouldn’t be my goal in the meanwhile.”
Taking Ferrari again to glory, although, has appeared like a tall order. Because the season went on, the SF-25 proved trickier and trickier to drive. Leclerc felt like a “passenger”, described the automobile as “very snappy and unpredictable”. In Qatar, the place he struggled to not lose management of his equipment, even he couldn’t discover the phrases to specific how poor the state of affairs was.
“Am I optimistic for tomorrow? I’m not, which is kind of uncommon,” he then advised F1 TV. “Usually I am a really optimistic particular person, however I’ve to say that this weekend, there’s zero efficiency on this automobile.”
Ferrari switched its sources to 2026’s new technical rules sooner than most, which hampered its efficiency in 2025 however will present it with a possibility to bounce again subsequent yr. The Scuderia might want to, if it desires Leclerc to maintain what he may have essentially the most: hope.
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