Charles Leclerc has admitted that Ferrari’s slow start to the 2025 Formula 1 season is putting his title hopes at risk. After five races, the Monegasque driver is already 52 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Leclerc, who finished on the podium for the first time this season in Saudi Arabia, said the issue is not just one specific problem, but that the car behaves differently each weekend.
“This weekend it was four tenths in the first three corners. In the rest of the lap, we were fast,” he explained. “In the race, that sector was actually our best, so we need to understand what’s going wrong.”
Ferrari have shown decent race pace, but continue to struggle in qualifying — something Leclerc believes is holding them back in a season where clean air is more important than ever.
“For two years now, we’ve been struggling to put it all together in qualifying,” he said. “And when qualifying is so important, that’s where we lose out.”
Despite showing potential in race conditions, Ferrari’s inconsistent one-lap pace is making it hard for Leclerc to fight at the front. He warned that they cannot afford to wait much longer to solve these issues, or the gap in the title fight will only grow larger.
