Outside Line: Interpreting Leclerc grenade lob at Ferrari in Las Vegas
We at GRANDPRIX247 often moan that Formula 1 drivers are too politically correct when they are being interviewed for TV, but Charles Leclerc blew the lid off that with some telling interviews during the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend.
One thing that puzzled me about Leclerc during his rise in Formula 1 to the elite driver with Ferrari, was his tendency to own up too fast for his on-track indiscretions. And too often. Too much mea culpa. Wearing his heart on his sleeve. But his blame game has changed, 180 degrees, and quite suddenly.
In telling interviews, during the course of the weekend in Las Vegas, Leclerc lobbed grenades at Ferrari in a manner I have seldom witnessed by a driver. So much information oozing ‘between the lines’ that I have taken the liberty of breaking them down for you.
The first interview that caught my ear was after a sodden Qualifying session, in which Lecerc rowed his row-boat around the Strip, up against speedboats. So bad was the Ferrari SF-25 that Formula 1’s greatest qualifier, Lewis Hamilton, in the other Red tub, was slowest of all. P20 for our Sir Lewis!
Leclerc was P9 when the chequered flag waved to end a dramatic Qualifying session that night. This is what he said in the TV pen, with my interpretation.
Interpreting Leclerc during the weekend in Las Vegas
Charles: “Since I joined the team, we have been struggling massively to find grip in these kinds of conditions. It is hugely frustrating because it was probably my biggest strength in the junior categories. And then we are doing something wrong. I have no idea what that is because we have turned the car upside down.”
Meaning: ” I am a damn good driver in the rain. But you have never given me a car decent enough to show my strengths in the wet. You have built me seven cars since I was promoted from Alfa Romeo. They have all been cr@p. We have tried everything!”
Charles: “We have had Lewis and obviously Carlos before that, who also joined from other teams and could tell us the feelings they had with their previous cars, but it is just extremely difficult to find the grip with our car. And it is very unpredictable as well, which causes us to make a lot of mistakes.”
Meaning: “Our cars, not just the Ferrari SF-25, have always been sh!tboxes. Ask Hamilton and Sainz! None of us can drive them, forces mistakes, and it’s a problem at least Carlos joined back in 2021.”
Charles: It is not that we are not trying, because with the team we have tried absolutely everything, but for some reason, we have not found our way yet.
Meaning: “Ferrari have no clue how to get us out of this mess.”
Leclerc: No! P6 is not a good result
Leclerc wasn’t finished. A day later in Vegas, after a strong recovery drive to P6 (which later became P4 when both McLarens were DQed) the Monegasque was asked if his recovery was a good result.
Charles: “No, it is not a good result. P6 is very disappointing. On another note, I felt it was probably my best race of the season in terms of personal performance. Honestly, all the laps felt like qualifying laps, and there were not many mistakes, so I am very happy with my own performance. But P6 is very frustrating.”
Meaning: “I am a very good driver, I am very fast, I am pushing as hard as I can. By the way, where’s Lewis? Exactly, therefore I repeat: The Ferrari SF-25 is a sh!tbox.”
Charles: “I struggled, because on the straights we were losing a lot of speed compared to the guys in front, and the DRS activation is very late in the straight. In the first part of the straight, I was losing so much, but then on the brakes, I knew I could make the difference. I think I surprised some of our competitors by braking for Turn 14.”
Meaning: “The SF-25 is not only terrible to drive, but the thing his a tortoise, no top speed, no power, no torque. It’s me being brilliant, I drove like an ace, outbraking lots of guys who must be awestruck.”
Charles: “But in the end, when Oscar had the DRS of Kimi, it became very difficult for me. So yes, it was still a great drive. Thank you.”
Meaning: “Benchmark team McLaren cruised past my sh!tbox Ferrari. We are far off the pace required. And yes, I drove brilliantly.”
Gone is the characteristic self-flagellation of his past. He is now taking that whip to a Top Team like few Formula 1 drivers I have seen do before. Especially Leclerc. That’s a grenade at Maranello in my book, but also a load and message to other Team Principals: I am available, and here is my CV. What thinketh you, readers? What about you, John Elkann?
While Hamilton goes through his own mea culpa phase of his time with Ferrari, Leclerc has shed that chapter and appears to have plucked a leaf out of the seven-time F1 World Champion’s manual for winners. When you wanna moan about your team, moan hard!