Charles Leclerc has expressed his dissatisfaction with Ferrari's
underwhelming campaign, stating the entire team is "disappointed"
with its 2025 F1 season. Heading into the year, the Scuderia had
high hopes of capturing its first constructors' championship since
2008, following the arrival of Lewis Hamilton to further build upon
its strong end to 2024. The Maranello-based squad ended up missing
out to McLaren by just 14 points last season, but looked poised to
capitalise on its resurgence over the winter and challenge the
papaya outfit for glory this term. That has not transpired, and the
constructors' champion has crushed the opposition, including
Ferrari. With seven rounds to run, McLaren need to score just 13
points at the Singapore Grand Prix to wrap up its second title on
the bounce — the first time it will have claimed consecutive crowns
since 1991. Meanwhile, the Italian team finds itself in a tight
battle for the runner-up spot with Mercedes and Red Bull. Despite
having occupied second place in the standings for much of the year,
it has slipped into third, behind the Brackley-based operation.
However, just 20 points separate the three teams. When asked by
RacingNews365 if he could pinpoint why Ferrari has fallen so far
behind McLaren and how much disappointment and frustration come
with that, Leclerc replied: "I think we are all disappointed, as a
team. "Especially when, with Ferrari, you are always targeting
being back on top and not fighting for a second, third or fourth
place. "That's not what we want, and so we are not happy — I'm not
happy, and we've got to do better. And that's very clear for every
member of the team." McLaren 'found something special' Leclerc and
Hamilton sit fifth and sixth in the drivers' standings,
respectively, and the Monegasque driver has collected five podium
finishes over the opening 17 rounds of the year. But Ferrari is the
only team of the leading quartet yet to register a grand prix
victory so far, leaving serious question marks over what went
wrong, or rather, did not go right over the winter. "Honestly, if I
knew exactly the area where we are lacking, it would be easy work,"
the 27-year-old added. 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, and 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, and we
could see that in the last few races. Mercedes and ourselves didn't
yet, and we are working towards that. "But to tell you exactly
where we are lacking, we know what areas. How do we achieve that is
another story. "And there's a lot of work to understand that and to
find the solutions, but McLaren kind of did a step that nobody else
did."
underwhelming campaign, stating the entire team is "disappointed"
with its 2025 F1 season. Heading into the year, the Scuderia had
high hopes of capturing its first constructors' championship since
2008, following the arrival of Lewis Hamilton to further build upon
its strong end to 2024. The Maranello-based squad ended up missing
out to McLaren by just 14 points last season, but looked poised to
capitalise on its resurgence over the winter and challenge the
papaya outfit for glory this term. That has not transpired, and the
constructors' champion has crushed the opposition, including
Ferrari. With seven rounds to run, McLaren need to score just 13
points at the Singapore Grand Prix to wrap up its second title on
the bounce — the first time it will have claimed consecutive crowns
since 1991. Meanwhile, the Italian team finds itself in a tight
battle for the runner-up spot with Mercedes and Red Bull. Despite
having occupied second place in the standings for much of the year,
it has slipped into third, behind the Brackley-based operation.
However, just 20 points separate the three teams. When asked by
RacingNews365 if he could pinpoint why Ferrari has fallen so far
behind McLaren and how much disappointment and frustration come
with that, Leclerc replied: "I think we are all disappointed, as a
team. "Especially when, with Ferrari, you are always targeting
being back on top and not fighting for a second, third or fourth
place. "That's not what we want, and so we are not happy — I'm not
happy, and we've got to do better. And that's very clear for every
member of the team." McLaren 'found something special' Leclerc and
Hamilton sit fifth and sixth in the drivers' standings,
respectively, and the Monegasque driver has collected five podium
finishes over the opening 17 rounds of the year. But Ferrari is the
only team of the leading quartet yet to register a grand prix
victory so far, leaving serious question marks over what went
wrong, or rather, did not go right over the winter. "Honestly, if I
knew exactly the area where we are lacking, it would be easy work,"
the 27-year-old added. 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, and 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, and we
could see that in the last few races. Mercedes and ourselves didn't
yet, and we are working towards that. "But to tell you exactly
where we are lacking, we know what areas. How do we achieve that is
another story. "And there's a lot of work to understand that and to
find the solutions, but McLaren kind of did a step that nobody else
did."
The post Charles Leclerc shares Ferrari pain after 'special' McLaren discovery appeared first on RacingNews365.