Leclerc admits Ferrari’s rain struggles show no sign of ending

Charles Leclerc did little to hide his exasperation on Friday night as Ferrari’s long-running wet-weather weakness returned with a vengeance in Las Vegas, leaving him stranded ninth on the grid and questioning why the team still can’t crack its chronic problems in the rain.

The Monegasque had braced for a bruising session the moment the downpour began – and reality arrived right on cue.

After climbing out of his drenched SF-25, the eight-time Grand Prix winner openly admitting that wet conditions have tormented him ever since he arrived in Maranello.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Leclerc said when asked if he’d expected such a difficult qualifying.

“Our car has been, unfortunately, since I'm in Ferrari, that we are struggling massively in the wet. We don't quite find the solution.

“It's not a fault that we are not trying [to fix], because we've been trying like crazy, but it just doesn't work. And it's very, very frustrating, because it's been probably my biggest strength in the junior categories coming up, and we are just struggling like crazy whenever it's wet.

“The tyres don't switch on, and we just have very, very poor grip.”

Lost in the Wet

Leclerc’s session never looked comfortable. As visibility worsened and the circuit offered all the grip of polished ice, Ferrari’s SF-25 refused to come alive – the same weakness that has dogged the team for years and, by Leclerc’s own account, continues to defy every attempted fix.

“I don't think it's only [tyre warm-up related], because we've been trying things on the tyre warm-up as well in the past, and it didn't work, so it's frustrating.”

The opening Q1 segment was especially punishing. Drivers complained of spray so dense that even the braking boards disappeared, a scenario made worse for Leclerc by a car that seemed unwilling to bite into the track at any point.

“Not nice, not nice,” he said. “Especially when our car is… It's very, very difficult to drive. Plus, here in Vegas on a street track, by night, cold conditions, wet conditions, everything is adding up for it to be a very difficult qualifying session. But, yeah, it's the way it is.”

While Leclerc salvaged P9, team-mate Lewis Hamilton fared even worse, finishing last after another wet-weather collapse from Ferrari — a stark contrast to the cars ahead that were able to coax heat into the tyres and push with confidence.

Looking Beyond 2025

With only two race weekends to go after Las Vegas and Ferrari clinging to the outer edge of the constructors’ fight, Leclerc made no attempt to sugarcoat his long-term view of the SF-25.

“I mean, we're fighting for third or maybe second, but honestly, second is going to be difficult for the constructors' [championship]. What I want to do is to be fighting for wins, so surely it's not a car I will miss.”

Regulation changes in 2026 promise a reset he hopes will finally tilt the odds back in his favour. But for now, Leclerc heads into Saturday’s race knowing his biggest challenge may not be the cars around him — but the one he’s driving.

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Hamilton on dismal Vegas qualifying: ‘It feels horrible’

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