Charles Leclerc after Monza: “No confidence about winning in 2025, Red Bull and McLaren are out of reach”. Charles Leclerc admitted after Monza that Ferrari is still far from Red Bull and McLaren.

Charles Leclerc finishes fourth at Monza

After the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Charles Leclerc confirmed the impressions he had already drawn from qualifying: Ferrari has slipped further away from the leading group. That battle now includes not only the McLarens but also Max Verstappen, thanks to the progress shown by the RB21 in recent weeks.

Not even the prospect of racing in Baku brings much optimism for the Monegasque driver, who has taken five consecutive pole positions there between Grands Prix and Sprints. Even repeating that feat on Saturday will be difficult, given the strength of the top three teams. As for victories in the final rounds of 2025, Charles Leclerc has abandoned any hope.

Charles Leclerc’s words

“Winning a Grand Prix in 2025? I didn’t have much confidence before today and I don’t have it now, so I’d say this GP hasn’t changed much,” said Charles Leclerc. “Baku? I don’t know, maybe something is possible in qualifying, but very often when we manage to put in that lap on Saturday, in the race you can see more clearly the difference in pace between the cars, and then we start struggling with tyre degradation. It’s a track where I’m particularly strong, so I’ll believe in myself and say everything is possible, but we are still far behind compared to Red Bull and McLaren.” – the Monegasque driver pointed out at the end of the Italian Grand Prix.

“We weren’t fast enough for the podium, I don’t think it was within reach. We were a little quicker than Mercedes, although they performed better than we expected, especially in the heat, which is usually where they struggle more,” he continued. “I don’t think overall I could have achieved more from this weekend: on Friday we were very fast, but we knew we were closer to our maximum potential compared to the others. Then on Saturday reality set back in, and on Sunday we couldn’t do more. I think we maximised the weekend: with Red Bull being strong on low-downforce tracks and McLaren, who maybe weren’t as extreme but were still much faster than us, we were kind of in no man’s land.”