Jeddah circuit: Charles Leclerc penalized by mechanical grip of SF-25

April 20, 2025

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Ferrari is as soon as once more in problem. The fifth spherical of the 2025 Formulation 1 season leaves no escape for the Prancing Horse, as soon as once more disappointing on a tough observe however with fewer compromises in comparison with the Bahrain Worldwide Circuit. And so, we’re as soon as once more commenting on the identical end result: second and fourth row, the place the Purple automotive appears to have settled. And the brand new ground? It hasn’t made the anticipated distinction after the Sakhir debut.

Let’s analyze the telemetry comparability between the poleman Max Verstappen’s lap and Charles Leclerc’s fourth place with a deficit of 0.376 seconds. It wasn’t Ferrari as one might need anticipated, particularly till the tip of Q2, with each drivers encountering main difficulties within the first sector, unable to correctly activate the tires within the optimum window, particularly on the entrance.

And this represents an enormous drawback on a observe like Jeddah. As highlighted on Friday within the evaluation of the second free observe session, the traits of the Saudi road circuit, particularly extraordinarily excessive speeds, tight corners, partitions simply inches away, require a exact entrance finish, able to guaranteeing fast, sharp, and repeated course modifications. Subsequently, the entrance finish should be stiffened, inevitably sacrificing some grip in sluggish corners.

Certainly, as seen from the telemetry knowledge, that is the place the Purple automotive struggles. Whereas the SF-25 is sort of good within the quick sections, within the lower-speed part – positioned exactly within the first sector – the automotive struggles to warmth up the tires and rotate because it ought to. It’s between turns 1 and a couple of that Charles Leclerc loses a big 0.265 seconds to Max Verstappen’s Purple Bull. The reason being twofold and may be shortly defined:

A nook entry affected by understeer, which forces Charles Leclerc to hold much less velocity via the nook; a much less aggressive line in comparison with the Dutchman, who cuts the primary curb extra, travels a shorter distance, and is best positioned for the course change. Bryan Bozzi has repeatedly emphasised how problematic this part is. Even in flip 4, the SF-25’s points are confirmed: Charles Leclerc takes the nook with 6 kilometers per hour much less.

He has to hesitate on the throttle to keep away from shedding the rear. Within the following part, between turns 5 and 12, automotive quantity 16 stays comparatively steady on the rear, and Charles Leclerc handles the course modifications with dedication and fluidity. However even right here, Purple Bull has the higher hand: it manages to generate extra downforce at very excessive speeds, permitting Max Verstappen to maintain the throttle down longer, whereas the Monegasque is compelled to carry off by 20-30%.

By the tip of the primary sector, the hole between Charles Leclerc’s SF-25 automotive and Max Verstappen’s RB21 is 0.350 second, virtually an identical to the ultimate hole on the end line. This confirms the difficulties of the Italian automotive within the slower part and the competitiveness, nevertheless, within the two-thirds of the observe at larger speeds the place the Monegasque automotive holds up nicely in comparison with the Milton Keynes machine.

Arriving at flip 13, the elevated hairpin, Charles Leclerc pushes laborious and manages to convey 10 kilometers per hour extra in entry velocity, then goes with the throttle earlier, with the automotive nonetheless within the strategy of settling. At flip 16, nevertheless, he experiences a slight snap on the rear, forcing him to barely contact the brake and barely carry the throttle on exit, however with out a important impression on the lap time.

In the remainder of the lap, prime velocity values are virtually an identical, confirming that, in at the moment’s race, overtaking would require being considerably sooner on the exits of key corners, fairly than relying solely on prime velocity. It must also be famous that the DRS zone and the slipstream will definitely contribute to overtakes, as Jeddah often sees these maneuvers incessantly.

In Q3, Charles Leclerc gave his finest with the obtainable bundle, which mechanically doesn’t assure optimum efficiency within the slower sectors. The comparability with Hamilton highlights much more the difficulties within the slower part (1-2), the place the Englishman has to brake many meters earlier to rotate higher, and even then, he nonetheless faces issues.

In the remainder of the lap, Lewis Hamilton’s insecurity is obvious: he loses from half a tenth to a tenth and a half in each quick nook and course change in comparison with the Monegasque, carrying a lot much less velocity via the corners: -7, -17, -13, -4 kilometers per hour within the quickest sections. The qualifying tally is ruthless: 5-1 in favor of the Monegasque. The seven-time Formulation 1 world champion nonetheless has a number of work to do to succeed in his teammate’s degree in qualifying tempo.