Charles Leclerc fears bleak F1 winter after brutal Qatar GP leaves him frustrated

Charles Leclerc endured a frustrating Qatar Grand Prix, lacking confidence and pace in his Ferrari all weekend

Charles Leclerc felt he had no confidence in the car during what ended up being a fairly miserable Qatar Grand Prix for the Ferrari driver.

After starting from 10th, the Monegasque driver finished in eighth, taking home just four points. While he managed to improve his starting position, Leclerc was frustrated after the race.

"I had no confidence in the car, I had no pace in the car, I had nothing in the car so it's just... I'm quite glad the weekend is over, to be honest," he told the media. "It was a very frustrating race from the very first lap to the very last lap."

Both Leclerc and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton have struggled all weekend. After starting the sprint race in ninth and 18th, respectively, Leclerc and Hamilton finished in 13th and 17th. Hamilton started the grand prix in 17th and crossed the line in 12th.

"Again, after what happened yesterday in the first lap, I had no confidence, and I didn't know what was going to happen with the car in the first few laps," he continued. "But there's not been one lap where we've been competitive over the weekend, so it's been very frustrating."

With just one race remaining in the 2025 season, Leclerc is eager to finish the year on a high.

"On one hand, yes," he said when asked if he was looking forward to the season's end. "But at the same time, I'm just really looking forward to Abu Dhabi and trying to finish the season on a more positive note and hoping to give us a little bit more happiness to go on holiday because it will be quite depressing to go on holiday with two weekends just like this weekend.

"That would be very bad, so I hope we can have a better weekend."

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur confirmed on Friday that the Maranello outfit stopped aero development on the 2025 car at the end of April to focus on 2026.

"A lot. A lot for sure, and that's why I think the second half is not too surprising. It's a lot harder compared to our competitors," Leclerc explained about the impact that this has had on him and Hamilton.

"I really hope that this will pay off for next year. Obviously, this was with the vision of trying to work harder for next year and having all our resources trying to anticipate next year, so I really hope that this will pay off."