Ferrari confirms issue with Leclerc’s car after unsatisfactory Azerbaijan Grand Prix
21st September 2025Ferrari’s team principal Fred Vasseur has confirmed that there was an issue with Charles Leclerc’s car during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, following an unsatisfactory result for the team.
Feature image credit: Ferrari Media
Ferrari endured a painful weekend after a promising start at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as both their drivers finished low in the points, securing a total of six.
Following the race’s conclusion, won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in dominant fashion, the team has now confirmed that there was a problem with Leclerc’s car, which allegedly stopped him from overtaking Racing Bull’s Liam Lawson.
Vasseur has said the team will investigate the issue further, but confirmed they ‘cannot be satisfied’ with Lewis Hamilton’s eighth and Leclerc’s ninth place finish around Baku. He said:
“We cannot be satisfied with eighth and ninth. We started behind Norris and we finished behind him, which is the reality of this track.
“We had an issue with Charles’ engine which we will now investigate and, even if it was marginal, it was enough to prevent him from being able to overtake in a straight line, which explains why we were stuck behind Lawson.”
After a promising start, which saw Hamilton top the timing boards in Free Practice 2, the Italian outfit saw their hard work undone in qualifying, and their ‘main regret.’
Hamilton failed to make it out of Q2, qualifying as high as 12th place, whilst Leclerc found the barrier at the beginning of Q3, at turn 15, cementing a 10th and 12th place start for the team.
Despite the poor qualifying display, Vasseur has taken the positives as they had the pace to fight at the front but did not execute it well on Saturday.
“It’s encouraging that the pace was there, but frustrating that we did not capitalise on it because you have two parts of the job: one is pure performance and the other is your execution,” Vasseur continued.
“In terms of performance, we made a step forward after Spa, but to be P10 and P12 yesterday was not what we expected. Now we need to understand what we could have done better, because we made some mistakes, some poor choices.
“I know Charles is accepting the responsibility for qualifying, but we need to work on our execution to come back stronger.”
As a result of Hamilton’s eighth and Leclerc’s ninth place finish, and coinciding with Mercedes’ strong finish, with George Russell in second and Kimi Antonelli in fourth, it meant Ferrari lost ground in the constructors’ championship.
Mercedes has now moved into second place with 290 points to their name, four points more than Ferrari (286pts).
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Max Verstappen secures Azerbaijan Grand Prix win as Piastri crashes
- FIA Race Director makes adjustment ahead of Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Who starts where with penalties applied?
- Max Verstappen claims pole in chaotic qualifying for Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Lewis Hamilton tops FP2 at Azerbaijan Grand Prix leading Ferrari 1-2
- Lando Norris fastest in lengthy red-flagged FP1 at Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
