Charles Leclerc’s qualifying woes in Singapore expose Ferrari’s deeper tyre struggles
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc endured a challenging qualifying session at the 2025 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, leaving former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer visibly alarmed by the Monegasque’s lack of pace. Despite giving his all around the demanding Marina Bay Circuit, Leclerc could only secure P7 on the grid, trailing teammate Lewis Hamilton, who managed to place sixth with a 1:29.688 lap.
Leclerc’s best effort of 1:29.784 left him more than six-tenths adrift of polesitter George Russell, who dominated qualifying for Mercedes. The gap highlighted once again Ferrari’s recurring issues with extracting performance in low-grip conditions and managing Pirelli’s 2025 tyre compounds. Throughout Q1, Q2, and Q3, Charles Leclerc found himself chasing performance, unable to match the consistency or traction shown by his direct rivals.
Leclerc’s unstable Ferrari reveals early signs of trouble
Even before the decisive moments of Q3, signs of struggle were evident. Leclerc had ended Q1 in P8, while Hamilton topped the timesheets. In Q3, he again followed his teammate, taking seventh place to Hamilton’s sixth. A small error through the final corners during his last flying lap prevented any late improvement, but according to Palmer, the warning signs had appeared much earlier in the session.
Jolyon Palmer stunned by Leclerc’s lack of grip in Q2
During the second qualifying segment, Charles Leclerc’s performance dropped unexpectedly when switching to a fresh set of soft Pirelli C5 tyres. His initial run produced a 1:30.472, which was 0.236 seconds shy of what he needed to break into the top 10, temporarily placing him behind Haas rookie Oliver Bearman. Palmer, analyzing live for F1 TV, described the moment as “grim” from his perspective, emphasizing how Leclerc failed to unlock the expected grip on new rubber.
The numbers reflected Palmer’s concern. Charles Leclerc was over seven-tenths off Max Verstappen’s benchmark time of 1:29.747 and sat a worrying 0.910s behind Russell’s session-leading lap of 1:29.562. His lack of confidence on the new tyres left him languishing near the cutoff point, and only a composed final flyer—with personal bests in sectors two and three—lifted him to P6 and safely through to Q3 with a 1:29.914.
Ferrari’s continuing battle with Pirelli’s 2025 tyre range
This latest qualifying session once again highlighted Ferrari’s ongoing issues with Pirelli’s 2025 tyre constructions. Throughout the season, the team has faced a persistent struggle to maintain the correct operating window across the range of six available compounds. The sensitivity of the SF-25’s setup often leads to unpredictable grip levels, especially during high-temperature sessions like Singapore, where track evolution plays a crucial role.
Charles Leclerc’s inability to immediately find pace on fresh tyres was another symptom of a wider Ferrari problem. It has been an issue that repeatedly costs both drivers critical performance windows during qualifying. In a tight midfield and upper-grid battle, even minor deviations in tyre temperature or pressure have massive implications on lap time and consistency.
A qualifying that underlined Ferrari’s current limits
Despite escaping Q2’s danger zone, Leclerc’s final performance in Q3 confirmed the Scuderia’s lack of outright pace compared to its main rivals. Ferrari simply could not match the speed of Mercedes, Red Bull, or McLaren on a circuit that demanded exceptional traction and tyre control. George Russell secured pole with a commanding lap—half a second quicker than Hamilton and over six-tenths ahead of Leclerc—leaving the Monegasque to settle for a second-row grid slot once again out of reach.
As Ferrari continues to search for answers to its tyre management challenges, the qualifying struggles in Singapore serve as a reminder that technical refinement remains crucial if the team hopes to consistently challenge for front-row starts. For Charles Leclerc, Saturday’s difficulties will make Sunday’s race an uphill battle on a circuit notorious for limited overtaking opportunities.
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