Charles Leclerc has revealed that Ferrari has been fighting a “very weird” problem with its 2025 Formula 1 car in qualifying which has triggered many of its Q3 disappointments.
Leclerc and team-mate Lewis Hamilton had looked to be a serious threat for pole position at F1’s British Grand Prix after coming off the back of some impressive practice sessions.
But they both fell short in Q3 – as Hamilton ended up fifth and Leclerc sixth, behind Max Verstappen's Red Bull, both McLarens and George Russell's Mercedes.
Speaking afterwards, a disappointed Leclerc opened up about how a recurring problem that the team has been battling all year showed up once again.
“Since the beginning of the season I’ve been performing very well in the races, and looking back at races there are actually not many races where I will go back to change something that I’ve done inside the car,” said Leclerc, who qualified sixth.
“Unfortunately when I look back at qualifying, which used to be my strength, there are many where I’d like to go back and change something, because every time I get to Q3 it’s not clicking for some reason.
“We’ve had good qualifyings but we haven’t had great qualifyings. This used to be my strength, and I’m not happy with the level I’m showing.
“In qualifying we’ve got issues for sure, particularly from Q2 onwards. We’ve been fighting with something inside the car, but it’s not an excuse, I need to be better.”
Leclerc is often highly self-critical when he feels he's underperformed in a crucial session, and the same was true here. After a moment in the last corner of a generally slightly untidy Q3 laps, Leclerc banged his steering wheel in frustration and berated himself over team radio:
"F***, f*** f***, f***, f***. F*** that. So f***ing s***, I am. I am so f***ing s***. That's what I am."
Speaking to media including The Race in the mixed zone after the session, Leclerc did not want to go into details about what the wider Ferrari issue was, but suggested it was not related to the car’s handling – so was not linked to ongoing struggles the team has had related to its car's ride height.
The team is set to introduce a revised rear suspension at the Belgian Grand Prix, but Leclerc said this would not have impacted on this qualifying problem.
“It’s unrelated,” he said. “It’s something we didn’t talk about too much.
"It's something that sometimes in some qualifyings we had the problem. In some others we have absolutely zero problem with it, but today was a bit of a problem.
“The issues are very specific, it’s not a balance issue, it’s not a grip issue. I don’t want to go into the details but it’s something very weird that we’ve got to fight with the car.
“And especially when it’s high-speed, it makes it even more difficult. I hope we can resolve it.
“But the good thing, if we can say it’s a good thing, is that tomorrow we won’t have any of this and for sure, we won’t have any problems of that sort.”
Hamilton, whose hopes of pole position on home turf were already derailed before the time lost through understeer at the final corner, said he too sometimes suffered this same problem – but it had not struck him here.
“Pretty much all the other sessions, the second round in Q3, has always been a little bit harder but today I was progressing which is positive, so I think I've taken a step there. But there is still more to get.”
Asked if this problem was something that could be cured this season, Hamilton said: “I don’t know, I'm not sure it would be.”
While Leclerc was not offering any more details about the problem, comparison of his best laps from Q2 to Q3 does highlight that his car is actually slower in some sections of the lap – especially in the opening complex and at the end of straights.
This could be a consequence of energy management, or some engine characteristics related to the temperature cycle that power units go through during qualifying – where they have to do repeated fast laps in a short duration.
The high-speed nature of Silverstone puts a premium on engine power and has a high-demand on the hybrid system because there are so few heavy braking corners that help with recharging.
