Charles Leclerc disappointed: "We've already extracted the full potential of the SF-25"

Charles Leclerc disappointed: “We’ve already extracted the full potential of the SF-25” | F1 Miami GP. Charles Leclerc admits Ferrari has already extracted the SF-25's full potential.

Ferrari had its worst weekend of the season so far in Miami. Seventh and eighth place at the end of the race, with a one-minute gap to the two McLarens. An eternity in modern Formula 1, especially considering that this is the final year of the current technical regulations.

Charles Leclerc was also beaten by the Williams of Alexander Albon, who finished fifth. Most notably, he had to fight hard against his teammate Lewis Hamilton. A double position swap in the second stint likely harmed both the Monegasque and the seven-time world champion.

In the end, Leclerc showed better pace than Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who finished sixth. But he crossed the line 1.5 seconds behind, and probably, without the position changes with Hamilton, Leclerc could have had a chance to attack the Italian.

But the real issue isn’t race strategy. What’s lacking is the performance of the SF-25, which is nowhere near competitive enough to fight for the top or even the podium—at least under normal circumstances.

“The frustration today was immense,” Charles Leclerc said at the end of the Miami Grand Prix. “There are things we’ll need to discuss with the team, and we’ll do that today. But it was a very tough Sunday. I was really angry and tried to stay off the radio as much as possible. It was difficult.” – he pointed out.

Charles made some important comments about the car’s competitiveness. In his view, the SF-25 in its current form has already shown all it can do. A worrying sign for the Scuderia.

“For four races now—the triple-header and this one—I’ve been saying we’re extracting the maximum from the car. In the triple-header we showed more, but here we couldn’t do that at all. We have to understand why. I didn’t have the same feeling as I did during the triple-header, and we need to figure out why we’re not fast enough. Do I believe in the car? I always do. After a day like this, the frustration is high and I don’t want to be overly positive. But I’ll believe until the end and give it my all until the end. But we need to improve the car. Right now, we’re not there. Today was a tough race.” – the Ferrari driver concluded.