One year on from Ferrari’s last win in F1 with Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc has discussed the biggest challenges that the team will face during the Mexico City GP. With P2 in the Constructors’ Championship still up for grabs, Ferrari need to score every point they can to make it back to back second place constructors finishes.
Leclerc on US GP strategy: “It was a brave choice.”
At the F1 US GP, Leclerc tried a different strategy than a majority of the grid. The Monegasque was the only driver in the top ten to start on soft tyres, switching to mediums on lap 23.
During a print media session at the F1 Mexico City GP, questions were raised as to Leclerc whether the team chose a different strategy becasue Ferarri had “nothing to lose”.
“It’s not because we’ve got nothing to lose. Even though the second place in the constructors is still something quite valuable for the team. So we still need to make sure we do the right choices.
“It was a brave choice. I expected that not many people would take my strategy. But I did not expect to be the only one taking that strategy in the top 15 starting the race. So it was a bit of a surprise. Obviously once you’re in the car it sparks a little bit of a question whether you made the right choice. But at the end of the day it ended up being the right choice.
“I’m happy that we saw and anticipated something that the others probably didn’t at that time. So that’s a positive sign.”
There are only seven points between P2, Mercedes, and P3, Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship. With Red Bull only ten points back from P2, there is an extremely close battle to secure second place. There are only five races left in the 2025 F1 season, so every point counts for each of these teams.
Charles Leclerc discusses the biggest challenge Ferrari will face during the F1 Mexico City GP
The Mexico City Circuit is 2km above sea level, making it the highest altitude track on the F1 calendar. Higher altitude will affect the performance of the cars due to there being less air. This makes it more difficult for the drivers.
Leclerc discussed how the higher altitude will affect Ferrari, as well as the different challenges that the team might face during the Mexico City GP.
However, Leclerc is confident that Ferrari have worked hard to ensure that they won’t face the same difficulties they did during the Singapore GP. The 28-year-old had to lift and coast throughout the race. Lewis Hamilton’s brakes gave up with a couple of laps to go.
“I think not only for Ferrari, but I think the altitude is by far the most challenging thing there is about this track. The brake overheating obviously, we’ve had some issues with it in Singapore. So it’s also nice to have another track so close to where we’ve had issues to see how much we’ve learned from it and to test ourselves in those similar conditions. So, for the brakes, for the engines, for many things, Mexico is very challenging but I’m looking forward to that.
“We’ve worked a lot after Singapore to make sure that we don’t encounter the same problems this weekend. I’m confident it won’t be the case.”
Leclerc considers how likely it will be for Ferrari to finish on the top step of the podium at the F1 Mexico City GP
Ferrari’s last win came at the 2024 F1 Mexico City GP, by Leclerc’s old teammate Carlos Sainz. Currently, for the 2025 season, Ferrari’s highest finishing position during a race has been P2, achieved by Charles Leclerc at his home race in Monaco. Lewis Hamilton has not managed to finish on the podium so far this season. However, he did score Ferrari’s first ever Sprint win at the 2025 Chinese GP.
On Thursday at the F1 Mexico City GP, Leclerc discussed if or when Ferrari will get their first win of the 2025 Formula 1 season, as well as the teams chances of fighting for the win at the Mexico City GP.
“It’s a good question, I don’t know. I remember very much last year where Carlos was actually very strong the whole weekend and it was difficult for me to get close. At the moment it doesn’t seem very likely that we are going to fight for the win this weekend. Never say never.
“Last year obviously was a very positive weekend for the team. I hope we can reproduce that but I feel like we are further away compared to last year. So until the end of the season I think it’s going to be very tough to win races in a normal race without any strange things happening.”
