Leclerc slams ‘unbelievably difficult’ Ferrari after disappointing Singapore qualifying

Written by Kavi Khandelwal

Ferrari had high hopes heading into the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix. The high-downforce and winding characteristics of the Marina Bay Street Circuit was expected to play to the car's strengths.

Credit: Formula One

A visibly frustrated Charles Leclerc did not hold back his disappointment following a challenging qualifying session. The Ferrari driver pointed to an unpredictable and difficult car as the primary reason for his struggles, which will see him start the race from the middle of the pack.

When asked to describe the overriding emotion after the session, Leclerc was blunt and stated his frustration with the lap and the car.

He said: “Not a good lap, but to be honest, not a good lap because the car has been unbelievably difficult since the beginning of the weekend to drive and to put things together, to learn things from the car when things are just reacting differently from one corner to another is very tricky and that's what happened today.

“So I'm, yeah, very, very disappointed, but it's the way it is.”

The result came as a significant shock, with Leclerc admitting the performance was a “big surprise”. He noted that the biggest surprise of the day, however, was seeing Mercedes secure pole position.

“I think the biggest surprise is seeing Mercedes on pole where they struggled in the past on hot conditions, and they come here and they put it on pole,” Leclerc said.

Looking ahead to Sunday's race, Leclerc offered a pragmatic but downbeat assessment of his chances to fight at the front.

Leclerc concluded: “So it's, yeah, congratulations to them and we will try to put them under pressure tomorrow, but I'm not sure that from P6 or P7 they will feel any kind of pressure.”