The Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix proved to be a very disappointing weekend delivered for Ferrari that was even the fifth fastest on the track. A truly surreal situation when we think back to the proclamations made at the start of the year, when talk of championships was in the air. Charles Leclerc finished seventh at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, after a distant spat with Lewis Hamilton to determine who would go to pick up Kimi Antonelli, something completely out of the ordinary, considering not only in hindsight but also while it was happening in front of fans worldwide.
We need to start with a fundamental premise: the Ferrari engineers and technicians made a huge mistake with the car, and the SF-25 has no potential to offer. Simply put, the car is slow, and at present, it would not win an F1 race even by accident under normal conditions, meaning without divine intervention of some sort, such as Safety Cars, scattered rain, and similar things.
That said, Charles Leclerc’s race was really frustrating: poor Charles, in his seventh year with a team that has never allowed him, except for the early months of 2022, to truly enjoy himself and experience the thrill of having a car capable of fighting for the Formula 1 world championship. Everything has since gone downhill, with disastrous aerodynamic updates and a management of drivers that is nothing short of hair-pulling.
The situation, if you want, has not changed much. Yet, among engineers, the team principal, and his teammate, the Monegasque has people beside him who are completely different from those present only three years ago at the beginning of this regulatory era. However, things have not changed, we are still talking about the same old situations.
Patience has its limits, but can you imagine Charles Leclerc forced in every interview to squirm when asked the perfectly valid questions from colleagues regarding the potential of this car, which, despite what Frederic Vasseur may say, has nothing to offer? Unfortunately, Ferrari fans are destined to live through another season of “Let’s think about next year,” because that’s how it’s going to end.
The Monegasque is wasting his undeniable talent on a project that has neither head nor tail, and it must be particularly frustrating to see, for example, Oscar Piastri triumphing race after race in his third year in Formula 1, or drivers like Lando Norris, whose skill is significantly inferior to Charles Leclerc’s, fighting for the second consecutive season for the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship title.
Looks speak louder than words. Words, after all, could be carried away by the wind: let’s brush over what was said on French TV regarding the spat with Lewis Hamilton, we truly believe that is the least of the problems right now. Instead, it’s better to focus on the rest, which is probably more constructive, but even in his expressions, Charles Leclerc is terribly sincere, as always.
Charles Leclerc mentioned that he raced with a lot of frustration, but he emphasized that some issues are better addressed within the Maranello team, and that is what they would do. He said it was a really complicated Sunday, that he had been very angry, and had tried to use the radio as little as possible, although it hadn’t been easy. The Ferrari driver repeated that for the past four races, including that one, they had been extracting the maximum from the car. Before the last triple header, he felt there was still untapped potential, but that weekend, there had been absolutely none. The Monegasque driver added that they needed to understand why he hadn’t felt the same way as in previous races. In any case, he stated, they were not fast enough.
However, the hesitation in his following words revealed his state of mind: He questioned whether he could believe in the car, explaining that after days like that, the frustration was huge, and he didn’t want to be positive immediately after such a race. Charles Leclerc assured that he would believe until the end and give everything he had, but they needed to improve and make progress with the car because, at that moment, they were not there.
— see video above —
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