Charles Leclerc was left “disappointed” after qualifying in fourth place for the 2025 F1 Saudi Arabian GP. In fact, the Monegasque felt he just didn’t have the ultimate performance to challenge for pole in his Ferrari depite setting a lap that he felt was on the absolute limit of grip in his SF-25.
Leclerc is known for being one of F1’s strongest drivers in qualifying trim. However, even his most valiant efforts on Q3 in Jeddah could only afford him a fourth place on the grid. That is nearly four tenths back from two-time Saudi Arabian GP pole-sitter Max Verstappen. Or, either, over a quarter-of-a-second behind third-placed George Russell.
Ferrari’s performance “just not there” in Jeddah
The Ferrari driver didn’t hide his frustration at being in almost no-man’s land in qualifying. He vented his frustration at only managing a second row start despite putting in a “really good” lap speaking to print media after the session. Leclerc felt he deserved more after putting “everything” on the line in the Jeddah Corniche Circuit:
“I’m not happy, I’m really not happy,” said Leclerc. “I mean, finishing P4 in a quali where the lap is really good…
“I think I put everything out there, but for now the performance of the car is just not there.”
Pace lacking regardless of balance issues
He then expanded on some of the issues that held him back in the weekend so far. In fact, Leclerc mentioned that whilst the balance could be radically different at times – ranging from chronic understeer to a snappy and oversteery car – the verdict would always be the same. A raw lack of ultimate grip and pace in his Ferrari in Jeddah, that can’t be solved with balance changes.
“I mean, I either have massive understeer or massive oversteer,” he explained. “But the end result is that I don’t have enough grip to reproduce what the guys in front do.
“At the moment I feel good in the car. I think I found the sweet spot of the car that matched my driving style.
“I feel like in the last 3 qualifying [sessions] I managed to maximise the potential of the car. But the potential is just not yet at the level where I want it to be.”
Upgrades “work” but aren’t yielding relative gains
Despite not being “stunned” by the gap to the front-runners, Leclerc admitted that he’s “disappointed” that Ferrari’s floor upgrade – introduced last time out in Sakhir – is yielding the expected gains in absolute pace, but hasn’t meant a huge amount of relative progress compared to F1’s other top teams at the Saudi Arabian GP:
“Stunned is maybe not the right word,” he said when asked about the gap to the leading contenders. “But I think it’s the gap that we’ve seen since the beginning of the season.
“However I’m a bit disappointed here, because we had few upgrades that should have helped for here, and the gap seems to be pretty similar to before.
“[They] work, but unfortunately I feel like the others have done as much of a step, which means that the gap hasn’t really changed.”
Leclerc currently sits fifth in the drivers’ championship, 45 points behind championship leader Lando Norris, who had a hefty shunt in qualifying and will start tomorrow’s Saudi Arabian GP from 10th on the grid.
