In Las Vegas, Charles Leclerc's statements after the qualifying sessions were literally a success. The Monegasque, after battling the car for the umpteenth time in the wet, let himself go in a comment to vent all his frustration: “We've had this problem for seven years. Each time we try something different, but nothing changes. When it rains we already know what to expect”, and that's not good.
Many interpreted Charles' intervention as a veiled response to criticism of the drivers by President Elkann just two weeks earlier (Brazil GP). Possible hypothesis if we add the fact that the driver of the number 16 car seasoned everything by adding fire to the dust: “In the wet I have always been able to express myself best in the lower categories, but since I have been in Formula 1 I have not found that feeling again” (click here for the full version in Italian).
Leclerc, a half-realist statement
Maybe there was a reaction from the pilot, but the fact is, vent or not, Charles told the truth. Or rather, he said it as far as he was concerned. If only only seven years had passed. The reality is that Ferrari hasn't won in the wet for over a decade. You have to go back to the 2012 Malaysian GP, more than 13 years ago, to that March 25th when Sepang turned red thanks to Fernando Alonso's victory.
If only it had only been 7 years… Obviously Leclerc only remembers those he experienced firsthand, but that's almost double the time that every time it rains, something inexplicable happens to Ferrari, which ends up irreparably ruining either the race or qualifying. Perhaps the underlying problem lies in what Monegasque tended to point out: “Each time we try something different.” Maybe that's the point. Always trying new things, Maranello's team never has fixed references and ends up not being able to maximize the result.
In mixed conditions, where you can't tell if the track is wet or intermediate, worse than ever. We generally always tend to tell Ferrari fans not to hope for rain. During qualifying in Las Vegas we didn't do it for two reasons. In FP3, the SF-25 seemed to have a good wet pace, and secondly, in Q1 we started with very wet asphalt, which didn't lead to any unknowns about which compound was best to use at that precise moment, so we thought we could see a good test overall. Then Hamilton's elimination in Q1 and Leclerc's ninth place confirmed the usual trend.
It must be said to be honest that there were some good performances in the wet as well. Like Leclerc's second-place finish in the 2024 Belgian GP at Spa, which turned into pole position thanks to Verstappen's penalty. Obviously some good performances here and there, but Ferrari achieved more negative results than "good joys" in adverse weather conditions.
So, to sum up, and essentially addressing the fans of the Maranello team, when you witness Ferrari's not-so-reassuring performances in the dry, hoping for rain is futile. In reality, the situation can only get worse.
Cover photo: X, Holiness; internal photo: Ferrari
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All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Las Vegas GP 2025
