Charles Leclerc Admits Ferrari Pace Comes with a Price as Team Awaits Upgrades

Ferrari has had an upturn in form after a disappointing start to the 2025 F1 season. The Scuderia has now achieved two podiums in the last two races with Charles Leclerc, while Lewis Hamilton recorded a solid fourth place in Imola.

However, Leclerc has thrown cold water on Ferrari challenging for podiums consistently soon. He claims the car is difficult to drive, and the direction the team are going with SF-25 is making it harder. So, is there any hope for Ferrari?

Ferrari needs upgrades to challenge for the podium, says Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc’s form has been rising as the season progresses, as he is learning how to drive the SF-25. However, the Monégasque has claimed Ferrari needs to use “extreme setups” to make their car competitive, which isn’t good to drive. The 27-year-old also claims he was lucky to stand on the podium in the Spanish GP and the team need to bring upgrades so they can consistently challenge for them.

After the Spanish GP, Leclerc said: “We finished on the podium because we were lucky with the Safety Car. Otherwise, I think fourth was our position. So I don’t think I have much more confidence in order to finish on the podium consistently.”

Ferrari Duo Set Sights on Podium Despite Challenging Qualifying

“I guess we’re starting to understand the car, how we can set it up in order to extract the maximum out of it. But still, we need to go in quite extreme directions, which is not so nice to drive. So unless we have upgrades very soon, I think it’s going to be difficult to be fighting regularly for podiums.”

Last season, Ferrari pushed McLaren to the final race in the constructors’ championship. This season, the Prancing Horse was expected to give the Papaya team a run for their money. However, the SF-25 hasn’t lived up to it. Ferrari needs to introduce upgrades to make the car more stable and less prone to peaking. However, a third of the way into the season, it could be too late for the Italian team to pull it back.

Qualifying pace is hurting Ferrari’s races

Ferrari often starts races further back than their car should. The race pace of the SF-25 is much better than over one lap. This was prevalent in Imola when both Ferraris went out in Q2, but both recovered to finish in the top 6. Again, in Barcelona, Leclerc admitted that he had “sacrificed qualifying” to have a better chance in the race.

A main reason Ferrari is struggling in qualifying is that they can’t get the tyres in the right working window and at the right temperature. This means the drivers have less grip and confidence to push the car.

🔴| Charles Leclerc admitted he sacrificed his qualifying today in hopes of a strong race result tomorrow:

“I had no tyres left. I think we were one of the only cars to have only four new sets of softs for the whole of qualifying. All the others around us had five new softs.”… pic.twitter.com/nuYy9CKDhD

— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) May 31, 2025

The poor qualifying results mean the Ferrari duo are always playing catch-up. This leads to them fighting through slower cars, but harms their tyres in the process. By this time, their rivals are up the road. Ferrari needs to get on top of their qualifying troubles to mount a serious challenge to McLaren.