Leclerc launches heavy self-criticism after poor F1 British GP qualifying

Charles Leclerc slammed his qualifying form across the 2025 Formula 1 season after an underwhelming performance ahead of the British Grand Prix left him starting sixth for Sunday’s race. 

The Ferrari driver has not once taken pole in the 12 rounds so far this year, despite previously forging a reputation as a very strong qualifier after picking up 26 career poles. 

He was expecting to be in the fight on Saturday at Silverstone, where he was strong across all three practice sessions and even topped FP3. 

But the Ferrari driver struggled when it mattered, as Leclerc qualified 0.229 seconds off the time set by shock polesitter Max Verstappen and one spot behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton. 

In the immediate aftermath, an enraged Leclerc slammed his steering wheel as he crossed the finishing line before launching a tirade against his own performance via team radio. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck that,” said Leclerc. “So fucking shit I am. I am so fucking shit. That’s all I am.” 

The Monegasque then remained in near silence throughout his in-lap as he brought his Ferrari back to the pits. 

“I am not doing the job,” Leclerc, who is fifth in the championship, then told reporters. “Since the beginning of the season I’ve been performing very well in the races. 

“Looking back at the races, there are actually not many races where I would go to change something that I’ve done inside the car. 

“Unfortunately, when I look back at qualifying, which used to be my strength, there are many qualifyings where I’d like to go back and change something. Because every time I go to Q3, for some reason, it’s not clicking at the moment. 

“We’ve had good qualifyings, but we didn’t have great qualifyings. Again, this used to be my strength – so I’m not happy with the level that I’m showing.” 

Leclerc refused to explain the exact problem he faced, but reckons “the issues are very specific” to Ferrari. 

“It’s not a balance issue, it’s not a grip issue,” he added. “I don’t want to go into the detail, but it’s just something very weird that we’ve got to fight into the car. Especially when they [the circuits] are high speed, it makes it even more difficult. 

“I hope we can resolve it. The good thing, if we can say it’s a good thing, is that tomorrow we won’t have any of this. For sure, we won’t have any problems of that sort.” 

The qualifying result means Leclerc is very much on the back foot for Sunday’s grand prix, as he will line up behind Red Bull’s Verstappen, the championship-leading McLaren cars, Mercedes’ George Russell and Hamilton. 

“Starting P6 again, it makes it so difficult,” said Leclerc. “Because every time we are starting the race by fighting to come back and then, once we are back at the front, people that have had a clean race just have an advantage on us. We need to be better in qualifying.”