After finishing P8 in the penultimate round of the season, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc reflects upon a frustrating weekend at the Qatar GP as he also weighs in on the three-way battle for the F1 Drivers’ Championship.
Leclerc had a frustrating run at the Qatar GP, struggling with the SF-25’s balance and pace. Leclerc managed to wrestle the car into the Top 10 in both the Sprint and the GP Qualifying, but P9 and P10, respectively, were as high as he could place the car.
Starting the Qatar GP from P10 on the grid, Leclerc, who had started on the medium tyre, lost position to Nico Hülkenberg, who had opted to start on the soft tyre. The Ferrari Driver benefited from the clash between Hülkenberg and Gasly on lap 7 of the Qatar GP, which promoted him to P9.
The lack of pace prevented the 28-year-old from gaining positions, but when Hadjar retired from the Qatar GP after a late puncture, Leclerc gained another position and finished the race in P8.
With Lewis Hamilton finishing outside the points in both the Sprint and the Race, and Leclerc only scoring two points across the weekend, Ferrari will leave the Qatar GP with P4 in the F1 Constructors’ Championship locked in.
A “frustrating” weekend for Leclerc at the Qatar GP
Speaking in the print pen after the conclusion of the F1 Qatar GP, Leclerc was “glad” the weekend was over. The Ferrari Driver lamented a lack of confidence and pace, which resulted in a “frustrating” race from start to finish.
“I had no confidence in the car, I had no pace in the car, I had nothing in the car. I’m quite glad the weekend is over, to be honest. It was a very frustrating race from the very first lap to the very last lap.”
The 8-time race winner cited the Sprint Race, where he dropped several positions at the start, as the reason for his lack of confidence, adding that Ferrari lacked competitiveness all weekend.
“Again, after what happened yesterday in the first lap, I had no confidence, and I didn’t know what was going to happen with the car in the first few laps. But there’s not been one lap where we’ve been competitive over the weekend, so it’s been very frustrating.”
The Ferrari driver had struggled to keep a capricious SF-25 on the road in the Sprint and in Qualifying for the Qatar GP, where he spun on his first attempt in Q3. Something the Monaco-born driver also struggled with during the Race, albeit to a lesser degree than in previous sessions.
“Yeah, but not only in the race,” Leclerc confirmed in response to a question about his struggles with keeping the car on track, before adding:
“In the race, maybe a tiny bit easier, but the pace was not there. But in qualifying, it was unbelievably difficult.”
Keeping an eye on potential track limit violations
With little chance to improve on his position in the Qatar GP, Leclerc kept a keen eye on the competition, instructing his Ferrari team to monitor possible track limit violations at Turn 10 from George Russell, who had temporarily dropped down ahead of Leclerc, following the second round of pit stops.
Asked whether he felt Russell should have received a penalty, Leclerc noted that Russell was on the limit, prompting him to tell Ferrari to check, as it was difficult to judge from inside the car whether the Mercedes driver had gone over.
“I don’t know. I was obviously pushing for us to check, because then, when it’s up to the last centimetres, it’s impossible to see in the car.
“But I definitely could see he was on the limit. So, I asked the team to check whether it’s a penalty or not. It’s not for me to judge.”
During the interview, it was confirmed to Leclerc that Russell had indeed received a few strikes, leading Leclerc to ask: “Okay, but more than three times? The number of strikes Russell received during the Qatar GP was not verified during the press pen interview.
The Ferrari driver added that when battling for position, drivers, at times, get hit with a track limit violation, which he feels is not “completely fair”.
“I think there was one or two times that he was battling as well. So, this one sometimes counts as a track limit, but I don’t think that’s completely fair.”
Keeping an eye on the track limit wasn’t the only side quest Leclerc engaged in during what he calls “a very boring weekend” from his perspective. The Ferrari driver also kept tabs on the battle for the Drivers’ Championship between the McLaren Drivers and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Leclerc weighs in on three-way battle for the F1 Drivers’ Championship
Verstappen won the Qatar GP, and with Championship leader Lando Norris finishing in fourth, the Dutchman reduced the gap to just 12 points ahead of the final round of the 2025 F1 season in Abu Dhabi. Piastri, who finished the Qatar GP in P2, sits 16 points behind teammate Norris, making it a three-way battle for the title.
Asked for his prediction, Leclerc said it was a “tough one” but that he felt the title was likely to be fought out between Norris and Verstappen. In any case, Leclerc is hoping for an “exciting” final showdown in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s a tough one. It’s a tough one. I think anything can happen when it’s that little points in between.
“I don’t know. It’s probably going to be between Lando [Norris] and Max [Verstappen]. But anything can happen, especially with the tension that there will be incidents that can play a huge part into it.
“They’re all fighting for positions. It’s been a very boring weekend for me, but I could follow a little bit of that on the screen, and was trying to do the math in my head. And at least that was the most exciting part of my race.
“Apart from that, it was very boring. And I hope we have an exciting last race in Abu Dhabi.”
Leclerc, who had already locked down P5 in the F1 Drivers’ Championship, following the Las Vegas GP, wishes he could be involved in the battle.
“It’s great. I wish it was a full battle and that I would be involved. I want to win.
“I want to be fighting at the top. And it’s nice to see those battles. But it would be lovely if I could be part of it.”
