Leclerc eyes ‘something special’ in Sprint after Ferrari’s struggles

Charles Leclerc has admitted he’ll need to attempt “something special” in Saturday’s Sprint event at the Miami Grand Prix to make up ground after a frustrating Sprint Qualifying performance exposed Ferrari’s pace deficit.

The Scuderia kicked off its weekend in Florida on Friday with another reality check that saw Leclerc and teammate Lewis Hamilton qualify sixth and seventh respectively for the event's today’s short-form race.

Heading into the Miami weekend, Leclerc had already voiced concerns that the Miami International Autodrome would highlight the limitations of Ferrari’s SF-25, and his fears came to fruition.

Leclerc acknowledged after the session that the three-tenth gap to Mercedes’ pole-sitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli was a fair reflection of the SF-25’s current potential.

“The lap was good, but the pace is just not at all there for now,” commented the Monegasque. “So it’s a bit annoying, but it’s the way it is for now.

“I’ll try my best tomorrow to try and do something special with the start. But to be honest, there’s not much room for improvement today. It was just… that’s the pace of the car.”

Leclerc also pointed to a general lack of performance across the entire circuit, highlighting the SF-25’s continued weakness in slower-speed corners.

“It’s every corner, really,” he explained. “So it’s not like we are particularly weak in one type of corner.

“Yes, the slow speed seems to be a little bit more of our weakness, but it changes from one weekend to the other. So it’s just not great.”

This lack of a clear strength has left Ferrari scrambling to find solutions against a fiercely competitive field.

Hamilton Echoes Concerns

Hamilton, who trailed Leclerc by just over two-tenths, echoed his teammate’s frustration. He noted that while he had felt more comfortable with the car during Friday practice, that form failed to carry into qualifying.

“I thought it was a better session,” Hamilton said. “FP1 was probably a bit better. The car was a bit nicer to drive in FP1.

“But yeah, we’re just lacking speed. But I’m… just keep working on from there.”

Asked if he believed progress was possible during Saturday’s Sprint, Hamilton was blunt.

“I think all the cars ahead are faster,” he added. “So, yeah, I don’t know what else to say.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged the team’s struggles, pointing to the SF-25’s chronic balance issues but also execution errors as key culprits.

“We were not far from the guys in front of us but that’s not enough, as we found it difficult to put everything together,” he said.

“There were some mistakes and we have struggled with the car balance and that comes at a price in today’s Formula 1.”

However, Vasseur remained cautiously optimistic about Saturday’s Sprint, suggesting that tyre management could offer a lifeline.

“Tomorrow in the Sprint race, tyre management and degradation will come into play and it could be another story,” he added.

Miami Grand Prix - Sprint qualifying results

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