Charles Leclerc Adds to Ferrari Troubles After ‘Breaking’ Car Amidst Multiple Mechanical Issues

After today’s Austrian GP Quali, Ferrari might be second-guessing their decision to keep Charles Leclerc for 2025! The Monegasque went out twice on the Red Bull Ring today – once for the Sprint Race and once for the Qualifying. But he got beaten by the rivals on both occasions as he struggled to keep up with the competition. At the Sprint Race, he came 7th. In the Quali, Leclerc suffered terrible mechanical issues and made a grave mistake of going wide in Q3. This resulted in his 6th place finish as he ended his flying lap 0.73s behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc needed to secure a front-row start to Sunday’s race in Red Bull‘s backyard to ensure a top position tomorrow. However, he failed in the task as his SF-24 started malfunctioning during the Quali. Despite showing good pace in the beginning, Leclerc ended up making a huge error in the third and final round of Qualifying. The 26-year-old went wide and locked up at turn 4 during his flying lap, losing some precious milliseconds.

After the Quali session, Leclerc was visibly unhappy with his third-row start for the Austrian GP. Speaking over the team radio, he said, “I tried too much. I am sorry. It should have been a P3 or so.” Charles Leclerc also spoke at the post-Quali press conference where he accepted the mistake. He admitted, “The pace in the car was better today, but we couldn’t show the potential today. There is no excuse I didn’t do a good job in Q3.”

This week’s race at the Red Bull Ring is crucial for Charles Leclerc to gain back his #2 position in the World Championship from Lando Norris. However, he is already at a disadvantage because Norris will start from the first row while he will start from the third. This has added to Ferrari’s woes as McLaren is breathing down its neck in the points table with only 26 points separating the two squads. As Leclerc is nowhere close to winning races for the Scuderia, should they have selected Carlos Sainz to remain for their 2025 campaign and let the Monegasque go instead?

Carlos Sainz’s Austria results highlight Charles Leclerc’s errors

Ferrari has already released its line-up for the 2025 campaign. While the team has chosen to retain Charles Leclerc by signing a multi-year contract with the Monegasque, Carlos Sainz will lose his seat to Lewis Hamilton. But given the results Sainz has yielded in his two years with the Scuderia, the question that arises is whether Ferrari should have re-signed Carlos instead of Charles.

Charles Leclerc is always branded as the Ferrari racer who can win World Championships. However, his mistakes often cost him race wins in the end. Today’s Austrian GP Quali also showed how, despite having speed, Leclerc fell short of getting a good position due to his own error. But Carlos Sainz has won Grands Prix for Ferrari (remember how he became the only non-Red Bull racer to win a race in 2023?) and he even outshined his teammate today by snatching the 4th spot at the Qualifying.

Speaking of outshining Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris seems to have understood the assignment quite well. The McLaren racer has now gotten a 2-point advantage over the Monegasque after winning a podium in Barcelona. If Charles doesn’t improve his sixth place at the Austrian GP, the gap to Norris will only increase further. Please comment below if you think Leclerc can avoid making any mistakes to win a podium tomorrow.