Charles Leclerc puzzled by unexplained Ferrari F1 slump

Charles Leclerc is puzzled by his slump in F1 qualifying performances, a previous strength of his. 

The Ferrari driver is regarded as one of the fastest drivers, if not the fastest, over a single lap, and has 26 pole positions to his name - the most of any non-world champion and equal 12th on the all-time list with Mika Hakkinen. 

However, in grand prix qualifying sessions in 2025, he has an average position of 6.3 and is without a pole since the 2024 Azerbaijan GP - his only P1 start in the last 21 races.

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton, whose own struggles adapting to Ferrari have been well-documented, has out-qualified Leclerc at three of the last four grands prix, and was 0.090s slower in the other, at the Austrian GP. 

After qualifying sixth for the British GP, Leclerc branded himself as "f**king s**t" after a poor final lap, with the Monegasque explaining how the drop in performance on a Saturday had him scratching his head.

"I am not doing the job, and since the beginning of the season, I have been performing very well in the races," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365. 

"There are not many races where I would go back and change something I've done inside the car, but unfortunately, when I look back at qualifying, which used to be my strength, there are many times I would go back and change something.

"Every time I get to Q3, it is not clicking at the moment. We've had good qualifyings, but not great qualifyings, and this used to be my strength. 

"So I am not happy with the level I am showing in qualifying. We've got issues."

When pressed about what the issues could be, Leclerc remained tight-lipped, but did give some clues.

"It is not a balance issue, and it is not a grip issue," he said.

"I don't want to go into detail, but it is just something weird we've got to fight in the car, and when it is in high-speed, it makes it even more difficult, but I hope we can resolve it."