Ferrari is sinking deeper into a black hole, and even at Singapore, the Maranello team failed to impress. Charles Leclerc struggled while Lewis Hamilton faced brake issues, leaving little to praise about the SF-25, which now struggles even on tracks that should suit it. While other teams continue to find new performance gains, Ferrari is increasingly disappointing and now even risks losing third place in the Constructors’ Championship. In the end, the team finished last among the top teams, with Charles Leclerc in sixth and Lewis Hamilton in seventh.
The Monegasque started the race with a brief flash of brilliance, taking advantage of the clean side of the track to immediately overtake his teammate and Kimi Antonelli to move into fifth position. However, he gradually fell behind Oscar Piastri in front of him, in a slow but relentless manner.
Even after the pit stop, Charles Leclerc remained absent from the action and had to continuously defend against the faster Mercedes driver behind him. In the closing laps, he even had to let Hamilton pass, as the Briton on fresh red tires tried to overtake him. Ultimately, Leclerc crossed the line in sixth, following his teammate’s brake issues.
In the media pen, Charles Leclerc spoke with Davide Camicioli, who asked if the unexpected performance of Mercedes was a concern. Leclerc acknowledged that although Ferrari lost about 15 seconds in the last 10–15 laps, this was not fully representative of the race pace.
“I had to manage the brakes practically throughout the race, and that was not ideal. I think everyone has some brake management challenges on a track like this. For us, it was particularly extreme towards the end and was really difficult. From the first lap after overtakes to the final laps, it was really tough,” he explained.
“McLaren and Red Bull remain at roughly the same gap as at the start of the year,” continued the 1997-born driver. “We’ve improved, but so have they, so we’re basically in the same place. Mercedes has now taken a step to catch them, something we haven’t been able to do yet. We’re in a somewhat isolated position. We’re clearly the fourth team, and there’s no pressure we can put on the teams ahead.”
Charles Leclerc concluded with a grim forecast for the remainder of the 2025 Formula 1 season. “I think the strategy today was good, but the problem is that when you’re not fast enough, whether I stop earlier or later, Kimi would have ended up ahead of us anyway. I don’t expect very positive things for the rest of the year,” he concluded.
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