Charles Leclerc is ‘starting’ to privately doubt what he said about Ferrari after Monza

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Charles Leclerc is now guaranteed to beat Lewis Hamilton in their first Grand Prix results head-to-head as Ferrari teammates after his P4 in the Italian GP at Monza.

The Monegasque’s fourth-place result in the Scuderia’s home race ensured he will finish this year with a winning record against the Briton. Leclerc now leads Hamilton 12-2 in their 2025 F1 teammate head-to-head after the Italian GP, as well as for qualifying with his 12-4 record.

Leclerc would even lead Hamilton 14-2 for their Grand Prix results by including the Chinese and Dutch rounds. Ferrari endured their first-ever double disqualification in the Chinese GP, while Hamilton and Leclerc both crashed out of the Dutch GP, with the Monegasque ahead.

But the 2025 F1 season has been far from the year that Ferrari envisaged. The Scuderia may rank second in the constructors’ standings, but they trail McLaren by 337 points. Ferrari are also the sole team out of F1’s big four yet to win a Grand Prix after 16 of this year’s 24 races.

Charles Leclerc’s confidence in Ferrari winning a Grand Prix in 2025 is ‘wavering’

Leclerc still holds out hope that Ferrari will win a Grand Prix this term, and has identified the Azerbaijan GP next weekend as the first of their last three realistic chances to top a podium. The 27-year-old also sees the Singapore GP and Las Vegas GP as races Ferrari could win.

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

Yet Sky Italia now reports that Leclerc’s optimism about Ferrari winning a Grand Prix in 2025 is ‘starting to waver’ in private. While he still believes in the Scuderia and has regularly been able to extract more performance from the SF-25 than Hamilton, his hope is starting to fade.

Leclerc identified Azerbaijan, Singapore and Las Vegas as potential Grands Prix for Ferrari to win after the Italian GP at Monza last Sunday. But Ferrari were convinced they could fight to win the Italian GP before hitting the track in the Royal Park in front of their passionate Tifosi.

The Maranello natives’ belief did not materialise as their engineers faced many ‘headaches’ at Monza trying to optimise the SF-25. One of the car’s few qualities has been its efficiency at low-downforce circuits, but Ferrari could not get the SF-25 into the best working window.

What has Charles Leclerc said about Ferrari’s chances to win a Grand Prix in 2025?

Leclerc finished 25.624 seconds off the lead at Monza, as Red Bull ace Max Verstappen won the Italian GP ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris by 19.207s and Oscar Piastri by 21.351s. The Red Bull racer also secured pole with a 1:18.792, while Leclerc qualified in P4 with a 1:19.007.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Despite his deficits to Verstappen at Monza, Leclerc left the Italian GP believing Ferrari could challenge McLaren in Azerbaijan, Singapore and Las Vegas. But he also believes Red Bull will be in the mix at the final Grands Prix that Ferrari could win through the closing eight rounds.

Leclerc told Sky Sports after his P4 in the Italian GP: “Baku is a track I love, which I’ve been very strong at in the past. But, then again, coming to the race, it’s a track where it’s also very easy to overtake. And if you don’t have the race pace in the race, you can definitely feel it.

“So, that’s going to be tricky. But then you’ve got Singapore, where qualifying is very important and then the race is more difficult to overtake, and I love this track, as well.

“So, I think Singapore, maybe Baku, and Las Vegas are the three tracks that maybe we are a bit closer to win a race. But that doesn’t mean we go there as the two favourites. I think we still go there as [the] third favourites.”