Charles Leclerc remains ice-cold under pressure
Charles Leclerc delivered a flawless performance at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, held at the historic and technically challenging Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The Scuderia Ferrari driver managed to finish in third position after a highly disciplined and composed race, fending off a sustained attack from Max Verstappen in the Red Bull Racing car. Despite Max Verstappen’s aggressive pace and constant pressure throughout the race, the Dutch driver – who was running a high-downforce rear wing – was unable to launch a serious overtaking attempt.
Max Verstappen stayed closely behind the Ferrari driver for the entire duration of the Grand Prix, with the gap fluctuating between half a second and two seconds. However, he never found the opportunity to challenge Charles Leclerc for the final podium spot, largely due to Leclerc’s strong racecraft, composure, and Ferrari’s competitive race pace.
The result allows Charles Leclerc to leave Belgium with a strong sense of satisfaction, especially considering the effectiveness of the updates introduced to the SF-25 single-seater. These aerodynamic and mechanical upgrades helped the Monegasque driver rediscover a more confident feeling with the car in qualifying and over long runs. The Belgian Grand Prix marks Leclerc’s fifth podium finish in the 2025 Formula 1 season. Still, despite this encouraging outcome, the McLaren Formula 1 team appeared to be operating on a different level in terms of pure performance, and Leclerc made a point to acknowledge this fact in his post-race interviews.
Charles Leclerc’s comments at the finish line
“Max Verstappen stayed behind for the entire race, always with a two-second gap or less, which means it was never easy,” said Charles Leclerc. “I knew the first lap would be the most difficult because we did not have the same level of downforce as the McLaren drivers or Max, but fortunately the track dried quickly and our race pace was quite strong. I am pleased that we managed to hold on to third position, especially because the pressure in those conditions was very intense. At one point, I told my race engineer Bryan [Bozzi] to leave me alone. He was obviously trying to give me as much information as possible, which is sometimes helpful, but in other situations it’s better to just let me focus.”
Charles Leclerc’s analysis for Sky Italia
In his interview with Sky Sport Italia, Charles Leclerc provided a deeper analysis of Ferrari’s expectations and the outcome:
“Honestly, on paper we expected to finish in fourth place, because both McLaren drivers were extremely fast and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull had stronger pace than ours – both during the Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint race itself,” explained Leclerc. “In the end, we did something very good. We made the right choices, and overall, I think it was a weekend without any real regrets. That’s why I’m happy.”
However, despite the positive result and encouraging signs from the car’s recent updates, Leclerc urged Ferrari and its fans to remain cautious and avoid creating unrealistic expectations about the team’s progress.
“We need to be careful with this positive momentum. We cannot allow ourselves to build up false expectations,” he continued. “I believe we are definitely heading in the right direction, but at the same time, the road is still long before we can consistently match or beat the performance of McLaren, and even Red Bull when Max is in clean air. Today, Max Verstappen was running behind us the whole time, stuck in traffic without clean air, and we did everything perfectly to keep him behind. But often, when they have clear track ahead of them, their pace is better than ours. We need to keep working this way. I think we are doing a good job.”
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