[Leclerc Disappointed with Ferrari’s Performance in Miami Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying]

Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque racer, expressed his disappointment after qualifying sixth for Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix sprint race. His ‘annoyance’ stemmed from Ferrari‘s apparent lack of pace throughout the weekend.

[Leclerc’s Expectations and Ferrari’s Performance]

Leclerc had anticipated finding speed in Ferrari‘s SF-25, thanks to a series of setup adjustments that made the car more comfortable for him. His optimism was reinforced when he finished second in free practice, despite some fellow front-runners not setting times due to a late-session red flag.

Despite this promising start, Ferrari seemed to be struggling with pace during qualifying, with Leclerc over three tenths shy of pole position. However, he was just 0.017s off George Russell’s early SQ3 lap, which secured the Mercedes driver fifth place on Saturday’s grid.

GPS data revealed that Ferrari‘s through-corner speed was solid but struggled to maintain it in traction zones coming out of lower-speed corners. Leclerc’s comments echoed this observation.

It’s bad,” Leclerc said of his sprint qualifying session. “The lap was good, but the pace is just not there for now, so it’s a bit annoying, but it’s the way it is for now.” He added that he would try his best to make something special with the start, but admitted there wasn’t much room for improvement on the day.

[Lewis Hamilton’s Analysis]

Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate, Lewis Hamilton, shared a similar sentiment in his post-sprint qualifying analysis, noting that the car had felt better during the opening practice session.

Hamilton acknowledged that it was a “better” session compared to his recent struggles in qualifying, but simply stated that Ferrari was still struggling for pace in its first competitive qualifying session.

I thought it was a better session. FP1 was probably a bit better; the car was a bit nicer to drive in P1, but we’re just lacking speed,” Hamilton said. He noted that all cars ahead were faster and expressed his uncertainty about what else could be done to improve their position.

However, Hamilton remained optimistic, stating that there were learnings to take from the day, set-up changes to consider, and work to do to pick up speed for the rest of the weekend.

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