Ferrari experienced a disappointing Sprint qualifying session in São Paulo, with Charles Leclerc finishing only eighth, nearly half a second behind the pole position. According to the Monegasque driver, a small issue during his best lap cost him around a tenth of a second, but the main concern is that the SF-25 simply lacks speed, despite feeling good to drive. It looks set to be another uphill weekend for the Scuderia.
The sensations from this qualifying session brought back memories of Austin, where Ferrari had also fallen short of expectations in the Sprint qualifying, finishing more than eight tenths from pole and fearing that even reopening parc fermé after the Sprint race would not be enough to turn the weekend around. In that case, however, several adjustments helped the team recover and eventually reach the podium.
The Brazilian weekend seems to have started in a similar way, almost like an unpleasant déjà vu. Charles Leclerc’s eighth place on the Sprint grid, with a gap of nearly five tenths from pole, confirms that it’s not just about the result itself, but rather about the underlying struggles surrounding it.
Speaking after the Sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc explained that while performance was clearly lacking — as he had already hinted over the team radio at the end of SQ1 — the driving sensations were not bad at all. In fact, he said the car actually felt good.
“I’m not happy. The car today was very, very slow. It didn’t feel too bad, but we’re slow. So we have some work to do and we need to find improvements for tomorrow,” Charles Leclerc said after qualifying, emphasizing that the issue was not with the car’s balance but with its pure pace.
His words echoed those he spoke after the Austin Sprint qualifying — perhaps with the hope that the outcome could be similar, though the unpredictable weather could once again play a big role this weekend. A deeper look at the data shows Ferrari struggled everywhere, which is probably the worst possible sign.
When performance is missing in every section of the lap, it usually means that the problem doesn’t lie in one major area but rather in many small details. The drop in track temperature between FP1 and qualifying, along with Ferrari’s decision to focus only on the hard tyre compound and not even attempt a run on the medium, may also have affected their performance. Regardless, there will be plenty of work to do overnight.
The Scuderia opted for a higher-downforce setup for qualifying, likely with an eye on the rain forecast for Saturday. However, the main problem remains that the car fails to make up in the slow corners what it loses on the straights, despite carrying more aerodynamic load.
“My lap in SQ3 was quite good. Unfortunately, I had an issue with a refused downshift, which cost us around a tenth and a half. It wouldn’t have made a big difference, maybe I’d have finished seventh instead, but it’s been a tough weekend so far,” the Ferrari driver added.
Looking ahead, Charles Leclerc hopes that the reopening of parc fermé might help Ferrari recover some competitiveness, just as it did in Austin, when a few technical and procedural adjustments gave the SF-25 a noticeable boost. However, he is not entirely confident that the same turnaround can happen again, especially given the uncertain weather conditions that make it difficult to plan the right setup direction.
“There’s nothing that makes me think we’re out of position in terms of setup. So I’ll try something, but I’m not sure if it will be better or worse,” Charles Leclerc added, stressing that for now he doesn’t believe there’s a setup issue at play. The Monegasque knows that the weekend ahead will be a challenging one.
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