Ferrari loses ground in the Constructors’ battle, but the real relief is that 2025 is almost over. Ferrari’s difficult Las Vegas weekend leaves the team 53 points behind Mercedes.

F1 | Ferrari (almost) says goodbye to 2nd place in the Constructors’ Championship. The good news is that the 2025 season is nearing its end

After the Las Vegas weekend, Ferrari now trails second place in the Constructors’ Championship by fifty-three points with only two races remaining. At this stage, only a sporting miracle could change the situation in the standings. There is no longer much to ask from this season: the one genuinely positive piece of news is that it is almost over.

The numbers clearly illustrate Ferrari’s current situation. In the updated Constructors’ standings after the Las Vegas event, the gap to Mercedes has climbed to fifty-three points, while the deficit to Red Bull stands at sixteen. The comments made by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton paint a vivid picture of a difficult moment for the team. Finishing fourth and eighth — the final result of the American trip — was certainly not the outcome the Scuderia expected heading into the weekend. Even with both McLarens removed from contention, the target of fighting for the podium slipped away.

There were, however, flashes of competitiveness in Charles Leclerc’s race. Shortly after stepping out of the car, the Monegasque made no secret of having pushed to the absolute limit. “I pushed at 200% for the entire race, I don’t think I left anything on the table. My race was a bit crazy, and in the overtakes I had to take huge risks because we were very, very slow on the straights. In some ways it was a fun race, but then I didn’t really understand what happened at the pit stop — in that moment we lost quite a lot of positions.”

Charles Leclerc was referring to the overcut executed by Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli. Charles had overtaken Oscar on track during lap twelve, but by delaying his pit stop until lap twenty-four — three laps after the McLaren — the positions were reversed. “It was a shame to find myself stuck behind Oscar,” the 28-year-old admitted. “I had DRS, but he had it too, and that made things very difficult.” After the exclusion of the two McLarens from the final classification, Leclerc missed the podium by just one tenth of a second, with Antonelli taking third after completing an astonishing forty-eight laps on a single set of hard tyres.

Regarding the overcut, Ferrari’s strategists opted for caution, as they did not have the usual long-run data that is typically collected during free practice. “We weren’t sure about the tyre life,” Fred Vasseur explained after the race. “I don’t know whether our direct rivals were certain they could finish the race without another stop. Only during the race did we realise we might have been able to pit earlier, but it’s always very easy to say that after the chequered flag.”

Despite gaining positions thanks to the disqualification of both McLarens, the mood remains one of disappointment. Hamilton, who started nineteenth, finished eighth thanks especially to the seven positions he gained in Turn 1 right after the start. “I stayed out of trouble,” Lewis commented briefly before analysing his race and the weekend as a whole. “Tenth place — which then became eighth — means nothing, it was a bad weekend. Was there anything positive from the race? No, nothing. I feel terrible, it’s my worst season ever, and no matter how hard I try, it keeps getting worse.”

Shortly afterwards, Fred Vasseur also spoke. “The first comments when you get out of the car are always very emotional,” the Ferrari team principal said while responding to Hamilton’s remarks. “We’ll analyse everything calmly in the briefing. I understand Lewis’s reaction, but we just need to calm down, discuss, and focus on the next two weekends to get back to where we want to be. I understand Lewis — he was there in FP1 and FP2, but starting from last place is not the best way to achieve strong results.”

Charles Leclerc admitted that he will not miss the SF-25. In two weeks, the car will be retired, almost certainly without having scored a single victory and leaving behind very little to regret. Imagining a different end to the season than what the track is currently showing would have required believing in the possibility of finding that elusive “sweet spot” — that perfect setup that, with this generation of cars, can give hope even to those who realistically have little or none.

There can be exceptions, but they are called exceptions for a reason: they rarely happen. Heavier points hauls are possible, as seen in Austin and in Mexico City, but fundamentally the car’s potential remains what it is. Under ideal conditions, Ferrari might have been closer to Mercedes, but there is not much more that could realistically have been achieved. The real good news is that, in fifteen days, the curtain will finally fall on a season that those in Maranello — and the fans around them — will be eager to forget as quickly as possible.