Charles Leclerc walks into the F1 Canadian GP on the back of consecutive podium finishes. After the P2 finish at home in Monaco, Leclerc took a P3 at the Spanish GP. The ongoing form should give the Monegasque the confidence to fight for the win at the upcoming Canadian GP.
Unfortunately for the Tifosi, Leclerc still believes it to be a distant dream. Instead, he feels another podium finish would be a realistic target for Ferrari and him.
Leclerc answered a bunch of questions on the Canadian GP media day, ranging from the team’s performance in Spain to his expectations for the upcoming weekend. In his reaction to teammate Lewis Hamilton’s earlier statement, Leclerc admitted to facing similar issues with the car in the second half of the Spanish GP.
While he would not discuss the exact causes of it, he explained when it started.
“It already started on my second stint a little bit. And then on the last stint, we had to manage quite a few of them. So it was a tricky race.
“But I think the positive was that the first stint was very positive in terms of pace. The second one wasn’t too bad, even with the first issues that we’ve encountered. The last one, we know why it was bad.”
Leclerc did openly talk about the advantage Ferrari arrives with at the Canadian GP, though.
“Part of me tells me that, obviously, in Montreal, the kerb riding is quite an important thing to have. In Monaco, I think we had an advantage because of this,” said Leclerc.
“Our overall car pace is not as strong as McLaren. But the fact that it was good on kerbs meant that it closed a little bit the difference between the two cars. Here, it’s also a little bit the same thing. It’s a lot less extreme compared to Monaco. So I don’t expect us to be at the level of McLaren.”
With this advantage, Leclerc talked about getting McLaren under pressure. Only through that, he claimed a win was possible. However, the eight-time race winner admitted his expectation looked unrealistic on paper.
“I hope that it will help us close the gap and be a bit closer. And if that’s the case, I hope we can put them under pressure and try to get a win. A win is, for now, unrealistic on paper. But another podium will be a realistic target,” Leclerc confessed.
This is not good enough: Leclerc gives Ferrari a reality check ahead of Canadian GP
The 2024 constructors’ title fight went right down to the wire with the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP deciding the winner. While McLaren emerged victorious, Ferrari weren’t too far behind and finished just 14 points behind the champions.
The 2025 season was supposed to mark Ferrari’s redemption against the defending champions. However, the season so far has proved to be anything but. Ahead of the Canadian GP, the 10th round, the Maranello-based outfit remains second behind McLaren but with a gulf of 197 points.
Comparing the team to the likes of Mercedes and Red Bull, Leclerc does not find Ferrari’s performance to be “shocking”. Nevertheless, he has made his disappointment over the gap to McLaren known loud and clear.
“I mean, I think none of us is satisfied of how it’s going at the moment. That’s clear.
“We came into the season thinking that we had chances to challenge McLaren and Red Bull in order to win the championship. That has not been the case so far.
“However, it’s fair also to say that I don’t think many people understood, apart from McLaren, that they’ve done a huge step forward compared to last year. A lot more than anybody else.
“If we compare ourselves to our other competitors, apart from McLaren, it’s not like we are having a shocking season. We are second in the constructors. But as a matter of fact, this is not good enough,” Leclerc admitted.
“We’re not happy with that and we need to understand what McLaren found. But we also need to be careful about everything that is going on around the team because sometimes that can change the perception of someone’s season. I think McLaren is doing an outstanding job.”
