Charles Leclerc hopes the new front wing of the F1 Spanish Grand Prix will serve as a “turning point” for Ferrari’s 2025 season.
Ferrari has endured a very disappointing start to the campaign, falling behind its rivals during the opening five race weekend, both in qualifying and the Grand Prix itself.
Leclair scored the podium for Ferrari’s first season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, finishing 31 seconds ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Monegascu is frustrated by the deficit in Ferrari’s performance this year, but hopes that things will change from Barcelona, the ninth round of the season.
The Formula 1 team will face tougher testing to close out Spain’s Flexi-Wings, where Ferrari plans to debut a new front wing design.
“I think we’re behind in terms of actual performance of the car,” Leclerc said. “We’re behind McLaren and Red Bull. Certainly, behind Mercedes, which I believe.
“On the other hand, I am moving in the direction I was talking about the past two or three weekends and feel like I have never felt more comfortable in my car than I am now.
“We need a better car, and the turning point for the season is in Barcelona with a new front wing.
Charles Leclerc details Ferrari’s struggle
Leclerc has identified qualifying as a major weakness for Ferrari, especially considering the benefits of clean air this season. Four winners of the opening five races began at pole positions.
“I think we’re getting closer to the pace of the race. I think free air is a bit ordered by the person who wins the race, and that’s always been the case,” he explained.
“Maybe this year is a little more than the rest, and obviously, when that’s the case, qualifications are more important.
“But unfortunately, for two years, we’ve been struggling to qualify everything together. This weekend, the problem isn’t always the same, this time it was four-quarters on the first three corners.
“In fact, in the race, the first sector was probably the best we had, so we have to look at it. Obviously, there’s an answer to what we’re doing and we’re doing something wrong.
“We have to find it. We’ve already gone 50 points in the driver’s championship so we can’t lose too many races before we find it. We haven’t seen that much, but 50 points is a big number. We don’t want to lose more points in the next few races.”