Charles Leclerc says he feels “hurt” by the Ferrari pace at the F1 2025 Miami GP as he believes he put in a good lap only to be eighth on the grid, as the Prancing Horse continues to struggle to get on top of their SF-25 package.
To say this Formula 1 season has been underwhelming for the Italian team would be an understatement. Initially tipped to be battling McLaren for both championships, the Scuderia find themselves with just one Grand Prix podium through five weekends.
Struggling with braking issues on the car, a narrow set-up window, persistent understeer and poor tyre management, Maranello’s latest product appears to have no redeemable qualities.
It sees the team languishing fourth in the constructors’ standings behind McLaren, Mercedes and effectively just the sole car of Max Verstappen for Red Bull, but they seem to trending backwards too as Williams get ahead of them over one lap in Florida.
And based on the Sprint Race, the British team might even be faster as Alex Albon constantly held onto Lewis Hamilton in the interchanging conditions before the seven-time champion gambled for slick tyres.
Now with Leclerc eighth on the grid, admitting it’s all he could do, the Monegasque racer says the pace of Ferrari at the F1 2025 Miami GP “hurts” as he’s left baffled by their qualifying effort.
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“There was something strange in qualifying, something off,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1. “I was completely out of the window of the car for some reason.
“The feeling is not great. But it’s the way it is. It’s just frustrating because when you do your best and the best is P8, with a Ferrari it hurts.
“And the two Williams in front of us, I didn’t do any mistakes… we are just not fast enough.
“Yes. It’s also a track that’s different than other tracks. There’s a lot of low speed corners and at the moment we are paying the price in those corners.”
Leclerc blames Ferrari for F1 2025 Miami GP Sprint Race crash
Leclerc’s Saturday began in the worst possible fashion at the Miami International Autodrome when the 27-year-old found himself into the wall and out of the F1 2025 Miami GP Sprint Race before it even began.
In the wet conditions, Ferrari had elected to send both him and Hamilton out on intermediate tyres as the rain continued to pound the track’s asphalt surface, and the decision bit the team back hard.
The man from Monte Carlo, who was due to start from sixth, aquaplaned and lost control of his vehicle as it slid towards the barriers, breaking his front and rear suspension.
Immediately Hamilton questioned the decision to send the pair out on intermediates instead of the full wets, which displace more water and are the safer tyre in heavy rainy weather when performance isn’t an issue. Leclerc also echoed this sentiment.
“In the first place the mistake was to be out on inter tyres with those track conditions,” Leclerc said to media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “We need to understand what we’ve done wrong as a team.
“But obviously I think this was the main mistake that then cost us a lot. That made the whole day a lot more difficult for the mechanics and for me as well, not doing as many laps as others.
“But I don’t feel like I’ve paid the price of it today [Saturday]. We were just not fast enough.”
