Charles Leclerc showed one ‘weakness’ at the British Grand Prix that Fred Vasseur doesn’t want him to lose

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Charles Leclerc saw his streak of point-scoring finishes end in the 2025 British Grand Prix, as the Ferrari driver secured a very disappointing P14 at Silverstone on Sunday.

The Monegasque had scored points in each of his last nine classified Grand Prix finishes and had even finished on the podium in four of the previous five rounds. But Leclerc saw his race unravel before the British GP officially started after pitting for dry tyres on the formation lap.

Leclerc made the decision himself to pull into the pit lane, instead of taking his place on the grid, as Silverstone was starting to dry out. But the track did not dry enough and Leclerc had to pit on Lap 10 for a new set of intermediate tyres as the rain returned at a higher intensity.

His second pit stop left Leclerc running in 14th place, and it did not prevent him from taking a trip through the grass at Becketts before the safety car was called for. Another pit stop on Lap 42 to change onto soft tyres would resign the 27-year-old to his fate of finishing in 14th.

Fred Vasseur heard a sign of ‘weakness’ from Charles Leclerc with his qualifying rant at the British Grand Prix

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur admits that the Scuderia could have urged Leclerc not to pit after the formation lap, which ultimately wrecked his British GP. Yet Vasseur also admires that Leclerc instantly accepted that the decision to stop for slick tyres was ‘entirely my fault’.

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However, while Vasseur admires his driver’s honesty, Leclerc unleashed a foul-mouthed rant after qualifying P6 for the British GP. The Monegasque branded himself ‘so f—— s—’, having only improved his 1:25.133 lap time in Q2, which placed him second, by 0.012s for P6 in Q3.

Vasseur feels Leclerc’s rant over Ferrari’s radio immediately after his lap in Q3 at Silverstone was a sign of ‘weakness’. Yet the Frenchman does not want the 26-time polesitter to lose his way of critiquing himself, but perhaps not as self-critical as was the case at the British GP.

Vasseur said, via quotes by SPEEDWEEK: “The driver made the choice, but it’s also fair to say that we could have said no… One of his strengths is that he can blame himself. That’s both a strength and a weakness of his, because sometimes he’s too self-critical.

“As a team, we value a driver who can admit that, because that prevents us as a team from going in the wrong direction. Drivers are only human and make mistakes like everyone else. It’s good to be able to admit that.”

Ferrari’s Q3 engine mode failing cost Charles Leclerc in a frustrating qualifying at Silverstone

Ferrari were running in first and second place at the end of Q2 at Silverstone, with Hamilton leading from Leclerc. Hamilton even sat second to Oscar Piastri of McLaren after the first Q3 runs with Leclerc in P5, but neither Scuderia racer would improve their lap times by enough.

Leclerc was especially frustrated with himself at the end of qualifying for the British GP after only managing to claim a spot on the third row of the grid. But Ferrari’s Q3 engine mode did not work as designed at Silverstone, which unexpectedly cost Hamilton and Leclerc lap time.

It was only once Ferrari turned Hamilton’s and Leclerc’s engines up for the top-10 shootout that they realised their drivers would not have the power they expected to unleash around Silverstone. In the end, Hamilton and Leclerc lapped 0.203s and 0.229s shy of pole position.