Leclerc Calls Las Vegas Qualifying “Embarrassing”
The Las Vegas Grand Prix classification left a bitter taste in Ferrari’s mouth, especially for Charles Leclerc, who did not hesitate to call the performance “embarrassing”. The team’s performance in rainy conditions, a recurring problem since Leclerc’s arrival, was once again evident. Leclerc, with a ninth place on the grid, and Lewis Hamilton, in the last position, reflected Ferrari’s difficulties. This result could be the team’s last chance to avoid a winless 2025 season. This week, Ferrari’s star drivers had downplayed the criticism from the team’s president, John Elkann, who had urged them to “focus on driving and talking less” and improve their performance.The Friday session was affected by heavy rain, forcing the teams to use extreme rain tires, something uncommon in recent F1. Leclerc explained that the frustration with Ferrari’s wet performance goes back to his arrival at the team in 2019.“My God, embarrassing, f—ing embarrassing. F—ing hell, I don’t understand how we can be so out of rhythm… There’s no grip, zero f—ing grip,” Leclerc expressed over the radio after crossing the line.
Charles Leclerc
Hamilton, recognized for his skill in rainy conditions, also suffered, being eliminated in the first session.“Unfortunately, it’s not just today. It’s been like this since I joined the team; we’ve struggled to find grip in these types of conditions. It’s very frustrating because it’s probably been my biggest strength in the lower categories and then… we’re doing something wrong. I have no idea what it is, because we’ve turned the car upside down. We’ve had Lewis and, obviously, Carlos before [from] other teams who could tell us the feeling they had with the other cars. It’s extremely difficult to find grip with our car. Very, very unpredictable with our car, which makes us make a lot of mistakes. It’s not that we don’t try, because as a team we’ve tried absolutely everything. For some reason, we still haven’t found our way”.
Charles Leclerc
“The car felt great in FP3 and, honestly, I thought it was going to go well. Yes, I was very, very excited. I thought we would finally have a good day, but it wasn’t”, lamented Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton
