After finishing fifth in qualifying for the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc revealed the Ferrari SF-25 is difficult to drive and he had to risk hitting the wall to achieve a good result.
The Monegasque finished five tenths behind polesitter Max Verstappen, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton finished 16th, his fourth consecutive Q1 exit (including sprint races).
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This comes after Hamilton’s crash at Turn 9 at Yas Marina ended FP3 early, continuing a torrid season for Ferrari, which will finish fourth regardless of Sunday’s result.
Also read:
Lewis Hamilton explains FP3 incident that led to Q1 exit in Abu Dhabi
Although it finished second last year and had hopes of winning the championship at the beginning of the 2025 season, it failed to win the Grand Prix with only one round left this season.
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So when asked about Hamilton’s struggles and Ferrari’s difficulties, Leclerc said: “I’m driving the car too and I can see how tricky the car is – you have to go all out and either hit the wall or get through Q1.
“Then you need to do the same thing in the second quarter, then you need to do the same thing in the third quarter, and yeah, I know what it’s like to have a car… and it’s a lot harder to understand something from a car when you really have to push it to the absolute limit.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
“In Q2 I think I’m going to hit it against the wall a couple of times, which makes it difficult to improve the car – maybe McLaren or Red Bull push a little bit less in Q1 and Q2 and you’ll know more about what’s going on with the car. So, yes, we’re in a tricky situation.”
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Since joining Ferrari in 2019, Leclerc has achieved many great things, from winning the Monaco Grand Prix to taking two wins at the Scuderia’s home race at Monza.
But there were few positive moments for the 28-year-old in 2025, forcing him to take heart from a simple fifth-place finish when it looked like Leclerc might exit Q2.
“It was very tricky, but mainly the second lap of Q2 was very, very difficult to manage and complete that lap. I’m actually glad I completed it,” he added.
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“The most important thing is that it helped us get into the third quarter. I’m happy with it – it’s painful to be happy with P5, but at the moment that’s the situation we’re in and the only thing I can accept is the small happiness every time we maximize our car package. I thought that’s exactly what we did today, but P5 was disappointing.”
Also read:
F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Max Verstappen takes crucial pole position ahead of Lando Norris
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