F1, Las Vegas GP: Ferrari reached Q3 with Charles Leclerc, but the SF-25 still failed to deliver. It was Leclerc who dragged the car into the final part of qualifying, where he was unable to fire up the tyres and suffered from a severe lack of grip compared to his rivals. The car was genuinely poor in this crucial area, and in the wet there was simply no way to make the tyres work. It was a deeply disappointing scenario.
Ferrari unable to bring the wet tyres into the proper operating window
Rain dominated the session, making the already slick surface even more difficult to understand. In these harsh conditions the Ferrari tends to lose its way quickly. Once again, the key to performance was tyre management, this time on the full wet compounds. Today offered yet another confirmation that the Italian car struggles to use wet-weather tyres, especially Pirelli’s blue-banded Extreme Wet.
These tyres also cannot be preheated in tyre blankets, a situation the number 44 SF-25 handled extremely poorly. The seven-time world champion of the Scuderia ended up last, an outcome that left him clearly disappointed. Speaking to the media, the British driver expressed all his frustration after what became the worst qualifying result of his twenty-year Formula 1 career.
Switching to Intermediates in Q3 did not change the picture. Charles Leclerc faced a very difficult situation, mainly due to a pronounced lack of heat — and therefore temperature — generated inside the tyres. Not only was the surface (the tread) too cold, but the core temperature was also far too low. This is a fundamental weakness of the Italian car.
Ferrari loses one second in four corners
Charles Leclerc commented on his qualifying session with clear frustration. The Ferrari driver explained that he now knows what to expect whenever rain appears. He said he has never had any real feeling in wet conditions. The team tried several setup changes to place the car in a more competitive window, but, as Charles Leclerc himself admitted, none of the adjustments worked.
This has not only been an issue this weekend. Ever since Charles joined Ferrari almost seven seasons ago, he has never felt comfortable in the rain or on a damp track. This makes it extremely difficult to understand the car’s main limitations in such conditions, especially considering that the team itself could not make sense of the situation. The impression is that nothing different could be said.
The only thing left is to examine the data and highlight at least the most challenging sections for the SF-25. Onboard footage helps, but telemetry is essential to draw proper conclusions. In the first sector Ferrari was behind McLaren, but the gap to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull — the Dutchman started on the front row — was smaller. Up to Turn 5, Charles and Max were almost identical.
Charles Leclerc was even slightly ahead. The problems, however, became clear between Turns 6 and 9, the slowest section of the circuit. Onboard footage could be misleading here, which is why the telemetry tells the real story. Across these four corners, car number 16 lost roughly one second. After that, something even more unusual appeared.
Charles Leclerc continues to lose time even on the straights
Charles also lost significant time on the two following straights. Traction on corner exit has a major influence on straight-line speed, but even with that consideration, the extent of the deficit is hard to fully explain. At Turn 14 he gained a bit back — around two tenths. This corner is one where he has often struggled with braking balance, with the rear frequently threatening to lock.
Even without finding the right brake balance configuration, Ferrari was more competitive than McLaren in this part of the lap. Charles Leclerc then finished his run with almost two seconds of deficit to pole position. Verstappen also lost time in the same part of the track, but only about five tenths — far less than a full second. On the straights, the Dutchman held the gap steady against Norris, later recovering another seven tenths at Turn 14.
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