Charles Leclerc casts blunt McLaren verdict in honest Ferrari admission

Charles Leclerc admits that he struggles to see any track where Ferrari can send a stronger car than McLaren’s into action.

Leclerc makes that blunt concession with McLaren the established leading force in F1 2025. The Woking squad has reeled off four consecutive one-two results.

Can Ferrari put a dent in McLaren’s F1 2025 dominance?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Red Bull’s reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen sustained an F1 2025 title push for a time, but McLaren has now taken control.

Oscar Piastri leads the championship by nine points from McLaren teammate Lando Norris, with Verstappen 97 points off top spot at this stage. Another 36 points further back is the lead Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc.

At the Hungarian Grand Prix – the final round before the summer break – Leclerc stunned McLaren by claiming his and Ferrari’s first pole of the season. But, it was a temporary hold-up as McLaren raced to a one-two, Norris winning from Piastri, while Leclerc was consigned to fourth.

Ahead of the race weekend, Leclerc had been asked to identify which track he thought could favour Ferrari.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think there’s one track at the moment where we think we are stronger than McLaren,” he admitted.

“I think consistently, McLaren is going to be the strongest car this year.

“Red Bull is a little bit more up and down, a bit like us and Mercedes, but there’s one constant, and that is McLaren.

“So for now, I don’t think there’s any tracks where I go to where I think we will be the favourite. But I hope I’ll be surprised.”

Leclerc doubled down on that stance following the race, suggesting that Ferrari’s best chance to beat McLaren had probably been and gone in Hungary.

Latest F1 2025 head-to-head standings from PlanetF1.com

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Asked by the media, including PlanetF1.com, whether he feels he at least has a car to challenge McLaren now after the summer break, Leclerc said: “I’m not sure. I don’t think so.

“I think they are the strongest team out there, and even today, they were very, very fast. I think on a track like this, what gave me hope of winning is that we were starting first, and with the dirty air, it’s a struggle to get past.

“I think Oscar probably had a bit more pace than me, but couldn’t overtake.

“I don’t think we are going into the second-half the season thinking that we can win anywhere. And that’s what makes the frustration even bigger, because we knew that this was one opportunity, probably over the season, and we had to take it.”

Ferrari does lead the battle for runner-up in the Constructors’ Championship. Its advantage over Mercedes is 24 points.

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