Ferrari confirmed the difficulties seen in free practice during qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc finished only in sixth position, +0.678s behind pole-sitter Oscar Piastri, after a lap he described as “a very, very, very shit lap.” This comment perfectly reflects the frustration of the Monegasque driver at the wheel of a nervous, unstable SF-25, which proved extremely difficult to push to the limit on the Zandvoort track.
Handling issues and tires out of window: Charles does what he can
Between FP2 and FP3, the car’s tricky nature had already become clear: strong understeer on corner entry, especially through turns 8, 9, and 10, where he lost up to 0.830s to the McLaren MCL39, followed by occasional oversteer on exit that hurt traction and speed. In qualifying, this translated into constant micro-adjustments on the steering wheel, with Charles forced to “pull the front in” on almost every corner.
This is a clear sign of a car that doesn’t respond linearly to driver inputs. Telemetry analysis, sector by sector, shows that already in the first corner the SF-25’s front end was imprecise, forcing Leclerc to take a wider line and make small corrections. Piastri, by contrast, drove a cleaner and more consistent lap, especially in traction zones, pressing the throttle more confidently and without hesitation.
Even in the first corner alone, the Monegasque loses three-tenths. Turn 3 also highlights the huge difference between the two cars: Oscar Piastri is still 6 km/h faster, gaining another two-tenths thanks to a cleaner line and a slightly tighter trajectory, which reduces distance traveled while maintaining high speed, despite the 18° positive banking allowing a wider line.
The critical point for Ferrari during free practice had been turns 8–10, where the gap increased noticeably. In qualifying, McLaren remained glued to the track through the fast bends, using the full width of the circuit, while Leclerc struggled with a mix of understeer on entry and oversteer on exit, losing confidence and cornering speed. It couldn’t have been otherwise.
Despite this, Charles managed to partially recover the lost time: everything lost in turn 9, where telemetry shows excess rear rotation on exit, was regained in turn 10, though he was visibly fighting with the rear of the car. The SF-25 partially regained stability in the final stretch, such as in turn 13, but lost another two-tenths in the downhill chicane (turns 11–12).
At this part of the track, a front end that is not only very precise but also highly responsive to direction changes would be essential. Considering that Ferrari had taken its first pole of the season in Hungary, the SF-25’s behavior at Zandvoort is clearly disappointing, even unacceptable in some ways: constant corrections, taps on the steering wheel to guide the front, and chronic difficulty in producing a clean lap.
Charles Leclerc does what he can and limits the damage in T2
Another key factor is tire management, which has haunted the Modenese car in qualifying since the start of the season. The SF-25 struggles to bring tires into the optimal window quickly, especially the rears, which overheat in the central sector. This was again evident in the first three corners of sector one, where the gap reached 0.407s.
The McLaren, on the other hand, seemed perfectly balanced in this regard, with setup work allowing excellent grip activation from the first flying lap. In short, the nearly seven-tenths deficit leaves no room for interpretation: Ferrari has not found the right key to adapt the SF-25 to Zandvoort’s characteristics. Perhaps this was all that could be done.
While in free practice the setup work was still evolving, qualifying showed that the difficulties remain unresolved. For the race, the question will be whether the longer race pace and tire management can reduce the gap, but the track’s characteristics will certainly not make Ferrari’s comeback easy, given the significant overtaking challenges.
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