Leclerc reveals why Ferrari's SF25 performed better than expected at Monaco

Despite Ferrari's current struggles in 2025, the Scuderia performed unexpectedly well on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton grabbing a second and fifth place finish for the Maranello team. The Monegasque opened up about why Ferrari were in contention for top places despite its struggles in slow-speed corners.

Leclerc realized his childhood dream last year when he won his home race at Monte Carlo. Although the Monegasque usually excels around the narrow and twisty streets of the Principality, he had arrived at his home race in a pessimistic mood given Ferrari’s up-and-down season.

Despite his low expectations, the 27-year-old displayed eye-catching pace through the practice sessions, setting the benchmark in all three one-hour outings.

The Ferrari driver continued to impress in qualifying, but he failed to beat Lando Norris and was left in second place. Despite the introduction of the mandatory two-stop strategy for this year’s Monte Carlo round, there was no change at the front, with Leclerc coming home second behind the his McLaren rival.

Although the Monegasque looked disappointed both after qualifying and the race despite his brilliant performance, he sounded a positive note given Ferrari's current struggles with its 2025 F1 car.

"I'm never really happy with second place. Then if you do a step back and you look at our season, I think this is a very positive result for the whole team. Especially coming here, we had very low expectations, just because our low-speed performance has been very bad all season.

Signing off with a word for the unexpected competitiveness of his SF25, the Monegasque said: "However, I think here, it's a very specific track because there are a lot of bumps, a lot of kerb riding, and I think our car is pretty good on that. That helped us to close the gap.

"So, yeah, I think we did a really good job, and 18 points plus the 10 of Lewis are very valuable points for the situation we are in. On that, I think we should be proud. Am I over the moon for a second place? Not really, but it's been a very positive weekend anyway."