The eighteen factors earned on the Suzuka circuit doubled the overall Ferrari had collected within the earlier two rounds of the 2025 Components 1 season, in Melbourne and Shanghai. Charles Leclerc, in fourth, crossed the end line forward of the 2 Mercedes W16 vehicles, with a spot of 16 seconds to Max Verstappen after 53 laps. This was the marginally optimistic facet of the weekend in the Japanese Grand Prix, however the total consequence nonetheless fell far wanting the Maranello group’s targets. After the occasions in China, it was essential to deliver residence a extra strong consequence, however combining Charles Leclerc’s placement with Lewis Hamilton’s seventh place was definitely no purpose for celebration.
The Monegasque driver described a two-sided actuality: on one hand, the satisfaction of getting accomplished a weekend the place he was in a position to extract all the things from the automotive; on the opposite, the notice that even extracting all the things was not sufficient to achieve the rostrum. The query mark remained over the place to search for the lacking efficiency. In keeping with Crew Principal Frederic Vasseur, the race to deliver upgrades will not be a precedence over gaining a deeper understanding of the automotive—a coverage that paid off final yr, offered the Maranello group recognized the areas the place the automotive was missing. On this entrance, Charles Leclerc’s remarks appeared much less satisfied, and it appeared that, for him, what was seen at Suzuka is all of the automotive can at the moment provide.
In his position, Charles Leclerc emerged from the Japanese spherical in a very good mild. His sturdy qualifying lap on Saturday served as a springboard that he made essentially the most of to remain forward of the Mercedes duo, a consequence that had not been assured going into the Suzuka weekend. Ferrari selected to separate methods: the Monegasque driver began on medium tyres, whereas his Maranello teammate on hards, however the distinction in efficiency was minimal, additionally because of a observe that was surprisingly straightforward on tyres due to the brand new observe floor.
Charles Leclerc mentioned it had been a considerably solitary race for him. He acknowledged that fourth place couldn’t be a satisfying consequence, however pointed to the positives of the weekend, such because the work carried out on Friday on setup modifications and the teachings realized, which might be helpful in upcoming races. The 27-year-old believed progress had been made, however pressured the significance of staying centered and persevering with to work with out speeding selections, particularly as a result of the highest groups nonetheless had a transparent benefit in race tempo. For now, he mentioned, the group wanted to focus on maximizing the factors haul, one thing they managed to do on Sunday.
An optimization that Lewis Hamilton this time missed. Qualifying proved decisive for the weekend’s final result, and the Briton, who began eighth, managed to achieve just one place, overtaking Isack Hadjar. The seven-time Components 1 world champion admitted it had been a tricky race and mentioned they didn’t have the tempo to combat with the highest three, which was one thing the group would work arduous on for the subsequent races. He added that, on his half, he had chosen a setup that was usually good, however didn’t present the tempo he would have wanted on observe.
In actuality, Lewis Hamilton didn’t have the tempo to combat even the opposite Mercedes, who completed fifth and sixth. On lap 32 (after the pit cease), he was seven-tenths behind Kimi Antonelli, and by the chequered flag the hole had grown to eleven seconds.
Frederic Vasseur commented on the finish of the weekend that the consequence mirrored what had been seen in qualifying. With the automotive they’d, they in all probability couldn’t have carried out extra. The French supervisor acknowledged that they had been struggling in some areas and wanted to maintain working to extract extra efficiency from the automotive forward of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He famous that they knew there was room for enchancment and wanted to give attention to the automotive’s steadiness and tyre administration.
The Ferrari group principal defined that they’d adopted precisely the identical method final yr. They’d been six tenths off the tempo and managed to get better in the course of the season, which meant they needed to preserve the identical mindset. The Frenchman identified that the hole and the present outcomes didn’t matter—what issues is doing a greater job the next week to enhance each the automotive’s potential and their capacity to extract that potential, together with its operation and efficiency.
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