Leclerc admits Ferrari's raw pace lags behind rivals ahead of Austin upgrade

Charles Leclerc has conceded that Ferrari’s core problem this season is a lack of raw pace, not a setup imbalance — a candid admission that arrives as the Scuderia prepares to roll out its most significant upgrade of the year at the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

The Monegasque driver pointed to a recurring pattern across the 2025 campaign: Ferrari often appears competitive on Fridays, only to slip back relative to its rivals once qualifying begins. Leclerc attributes that gap to engine modes his opponents are exploiting.

“I’m not sure we are particularly good on Fridays,” he said. “I mean we are, but I believe it comes more from the engine modes that others are running, and once we come to qualifying, they just have something that we don’t.”

Leclerc was quick to credit the team’s preparation work, noting that strong simulator correlation at Maranello means Ferrari typically arrives at a circuit with a well-balanced car from the outset. “One of our strengths as a team is straight from the get-go having a car with a good balance,” he explained. “The correlation has been quite strong recently, which helps us to do the work on the simulator back at home, and then arrive at the track and have a strong car straight away.”

However, he was clear that no amount of setup refinement will close the gap to the frontrunners. “It’s not that if we design a very peaky car, then we can extract more out of it,” he said. “The raw potential of the car is not at the level of our main competitors. I think it’s just the raw performance of the car where we are a bit down at the moment.”

Ferrari has grappled with straight-line speed deficits throughout the season, a consequence of its choice to run a smaller turbo configuration aimed at improving low-speed performance — a trade-off that has ultimately cost the team more than it gained. The last time either Ferrari driver stood on the top step was at the British Grand Prix, where Leclerc took victory.

The upgrade package due in Austin — comprising a new floor, revised sidepods, and updated bodywork — represents the team’s most ambitious attempt yet to address those shortcomings. Despite the performance gap, Ferrari has shown flashes of competitiveness, outscoring Mercedes at the Bahrain, Malaysian, and Singapore Grands Prix, with Leclerc finishing second in Singapore.

Whether the Austin package can shift the balance of power in the constructors’ standings remains to be seen, but Leclerc’s frank assessment leaves little doubt about the scale of the challenge Ferrari’s engineers are trying to solve.