Ferrari looked to have a strong car at the British GP, with a win at Silverstone looking possible after the practice sessions. Lewis Hamilton topped FP1, while Charles Leclerc was fastest in the final practice session. As we headed into qualifying, the Scuderia looked on course to challenge for the front row.
However, this failed to materialise, as both Ferrari drivers made small mistakes on their final runs in Q3. This left them filling out the third row. Ferrari was hoping for a dry race to best suit their car. However, the race was in mixed conditions, which saw Ferrari’s pace disappear. And Charles Leclerc wants answers.
Ferrari’s “lack of pace” puzzles Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc had a miserable race at Silverstone. He had many off-track adventures and even had contact with former teammate Carlos Sainz. He finished second last on the road as he failed to make an impact in the race. The Monogasque says the pace was “nowhere” and wants to know why.
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He says the biggest reason why he had a bad race was due to “lack of pace today, and on that, I want the answers before going back home. So, I’ll work hard to try and understand what was going on there.”
Leclerc finished 84 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris. This gap is bigger than it seems due to multiple safety cars throughout the race. Leclerc was on average, a second off the McLaren’s pace, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton claimed the SF-25 was “unbelievably tricky to drive.”
Charles Leclerc takes responsibility for the poor strategy at the British GP
After driving the formation lap, Charles Leclerc followed George Russell into the pits to change onto dry tyres. Although some of the track had dried up, other parts, especially in the final sector, were still wet. Leclerc has taken full responsibility for the miscalculation, which hampered his race.
He said: “I’m not happy with the decision. That was my decision. The first and second sector was kind of for slicks. Third Sector was wet, but this, I expected it. I had seen it. But I expected the track to dry a lot quicker. It did not. We were [among] quite a few to have done that mistake, of thinking that it will dry quickly.”
Total frustration for Charles Leclerc 😖#F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/aj529wyj96
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 5, 2025
The issue for the dry runners is that with the cooler temperatures and slower wind speed, the track took longer to dry. This meant drivers on the intermediate tyres had better grip throughout the entire lap. When the track was at its driest and the intermediate runners had grained up their tyres, more rain hit the track, meaning all drivers had to stop for fresh intermediate tyres. This lost the slick runners their advantage.
The other issue was the two virtual safety cars (VSC) that happened on the opening laps of the race. This meant that the dry runners lost temperature in their tyres and so lost grip on a greasy surface. This left the dry runners at a further disadvantage, ruining their race.
