Things were looking good for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari through the practice sessions ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. But when the time came to perform in qualifying and the race, Ferrari’s pace completely disappeared. After the race, Leclerc revealed that a technical issue held them back in the first few laps.
After the three practice sessions in Baku, it seemed like both the Ferrari drivers were in contention for pole position. However, as the qualifying session started, Lewis Hamilton got knocked out in Q2, and Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari into the wall in Q3. The race didn’t provide any more luck for the prancing horse. The team had to settle for just 6 points from both their drivers.
Charles Leclerc reveals power issues in first stint
While speaking to the media after the race, Charles Leclerc stated that his car faced some power issues during the first 10 laps of the race.
“Unfortunately I had a quite big power unit issue for 10 laps in the first stint. And we don’t really know what is the reason for that yet, because it kind of came back from one lap to the other, and we don’t know what happened.”
🚨 | Lewis Hamilton apologizes to Charles Leclerc for not giving back the position towards the end of the race:
“At the end, I got the message really late on it, and I was like zoned in on the car in front of me, even though there was like 0.001 percent chance of passing, I was…
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) September 21, 2025
Despite the power issue, Leclerc was able to jump past Lando Norris during the safety car restart. While the Monegasque driver does mention a power issue, there was no visible performance deficit in the car.
Even after the first 10 laps of the race, the pace of the SF-25 did not seem to improve. Leclerc not only struggled to overtake the cars ahead, but wasn’t able to keep Norris behind him as well. Ferrari’s performance issues run much deeper than a simple power unit failure.
Ferrari’s real problem in 2025
While the team has shown strong race pace in past races, over the last few weeks, they have not been able to keep up with McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull. After Baku, Ferrari has lost 2nd place in the Constructors’ standings to Mercedes.
The next race in Singapore will be a crucial one for Ferrari to bounce back. On paper, they could perform better than Mercedes. If they are able to put in a strong qualifying performance, they should be in a strong position to get on the podium.
After the summer break, it seems as though Lewis Hamilton has found his confidence to keep up with his teammate. So now, Ferrari will need to find the right setup for their drivers to unlock a bit more performance.
The team has already stopped bringing updates to this year’s car. They have shifted all developemnt focus to thier 2026 challenger hoping to fight for the Championship with the new regulation changes. If they are able to do so, it will give the team the opportunity to break their longest Championship drought in F1 history.
