Charles Leclerc deals Lewis Hamilton further bad news with ‘never’ before Ferrari claim after bleak Saudi Arabian GP

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Charles Leclerc was simply in another league to Lewis Hamilton at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as the Monegasque recorded Ferrari’s first podium of the 2025 F1 season.

The Scuderia have seldom enjoyed the season that engineers in Maranello forecasted ahead of the campaign. Ferrari entered 2025 eying their first constructors’ title since 2007 after the pride of Italy missed out on the 2024 championship at the last race by 14 points to McLaren.

Yet while McLaren built on their success with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri the only drivers to lead the standings this season, Ferrari have regressed. Leclerc is just fifth in the standings with 47 points to trail Piastri by 52, while Hamilton is in seventh with 31 points to trail by 68.

Piastri even took his third plus McLaren’s fourth Grand Prix win of the 2025 F1 season so far in Jeddah. Leclerc’s P3 finish in the Saudi Arabian GP was Ferrari’s first Grand Prix podium to add to Hamilton’s Chinese Grand Prix Sprint win when the Briton even earned pole position.

Charles Leclerc has ‘never’ felt ‘as much at ease’ in a Ferrari F1 car as their 2025 challenger

Leclerc was in a different league to Hamilton throughout the Saudi Arabian GP weekend. He was only behind the 40-year-old in the first phase of qualifying when Hamilton required two runs in Q1 in Saudi Arabia to get P9, whereas Leclerc got through in P13 with his early effort.

Hamilton also finished the Saudi Arabian GP a whopping 30.969 seconds behind Leclerc. He would only manage a P7 finish last Sunday as the lowest-placed driver amongst F1’s top four teams. Yet Leclerc bagged a podium in P3 and he was only 8.104s shy of race-winner Piastri.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

The 27-year-old feels a key reason for his rostrum in Jeddah was that Leclerc has ‘never’ felt ‘as much at ease’ in any Ferrari F1 car than he did in their 2025 car at the Saudi Arabian GP. This term is the Monegasque’s seventh season for Ferrari since joining the Scuderia in 2019.

“I think we are behind in terms of actual performance of the car,” Leclerc said, via quotes by F1i. “We are behind McLaren and Red Bull, for sure, [and] behind Mercedes I believe, also.

“I’ve gone in the direction that I’ve been speaking of in the last two or three weekends and I feel like I’ve never been as much at ease with the car than I’ve been at the moment.

“So, we are extracting the maximum out of the car. We just need a better car. And I think a turning point for the season will be in Barcelona with a new front wing. I hope it can play a little in our favour.”

Charles Leclerc deals Lewis Hamilton further bad news after his Saudi Arabian GP woes

Leclerc claiming that the SF-25 he drove at the Saudi Arabian GP is the Ferrari he has felt the most at ease with will come as further bad news for Hamilton after his bleak time in Jeddah. It also adds another layer to their SF-25 being further away from where Hamilton would like.

After his woes at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit all weekend, Ferrari accept Hamilton needs to adapt his driving style to the SF-25. The Briton has so far failed to master their car as it has a light rear end, which has regularly caused Hamilton issues at high speed and whilst braking.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Leclerc, on the other hand, likes a car which has a lighter rear end and is taking the benefits of the balance of Ferrari’s package shifting more to his style with the SF-25. Hamilton would have preferred to drive Ferrari’s previous cars after they tended to have a stronger rear-end.

His 30.969s deficit to Leclerc in Saudi Arabia saw Hamilton finish behind a teammate by over 30s for the first time in 181 Grands Prix. The last time he finished as far off a teammate was at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix, when Valtteri Bottas won with Hamilton 36.230s back in P4.