Free practice had suggested a tight battle at the top between Ferrari and McLaren. However, qualifying told a different story, with the papaya team dominating the SF-25 cars by a full seven-tenths. Behind this drastic shift, however, there is a clear explanation. As Charles Leclerc hinted in interviews, Ferrari was forced to make a change to the car, resulting in a loss of performance. While a separate analysis explored the possible reasons behind this difficult choice, this one examines where Ferrari specifically lost ground to McLaren in Australian GP qualifying through telemetry. Let’s compare the best laps of Leclerc and Norris.
Telemetry analysis of Australian GP qualifying – source: F1inGenerale
Telemetry provides a clear picture of what happened on track. At the very beginning of the lap, Charles Leclerc actually had the upper hand. The Monegasque driver reached the end of the first straight with 2 kph more top speed than Norris and matched his speed on the next straight. So, as seen throughout the lap, Ferrari’s lap-time deficit did not come from top speed. Additionally, in the braking zones, Charles Leclerc managed to brake later than his rival, gaining almost two-tenths.
However, McLaren proved superior in balance and aerodynamic load. In every corner, the Ferrari driver had a lower minimum speed. This lack of grip also affected acceleration, with the SF-25 struggling in traction.
It’s also noticeable that Charles Leclerc tended to delay all his braking points. This suggests he was trying to adopt a “V-shaped” driving style—braking later but arriving at the apex with less speed. By doing so, he was attempting to compensate, at least by gaining time on corner entry, for his inability to carry high mid-corner speed due to a lack of downforce. This was not his approach during free practice when greater downforce and better balance allowed him to maintain higher minimum speeds than Norris.
Therefore, the gap between Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc mainly stems from mid-corner phases and traction, both caused by a lack of aerodynamic load and balance in the Maranello car—but not from top speed. As seen on the telemetry, the orange line (representing McLaren) shows higher minimum speeds in braking zones than the red line (Ferrari). During acceleration, the McLaren’s line rises earlier and steeper, but towards the end of the straight, the two converge thanks to Ferrari’s improved DRS.
Source: f1ingenerale
