Charles Leclerc trapped by his family in Miami, Ferrari adrift
Between a wall, dirty air and misplaced foam, Charles Leclerc experienced a Kafkaesque Grand Prix in Miami. Overtaken by the Ferrari strategy, frustrated by the instructions and stuck behind Hamilton, the Monegasque left Florida with six points and a bitter taste.
He had started his weekend in the wall. He ended it in the turmoil of a strategic fiasco orchestrated by Ferrari. In Miami, Charles Leclerc experienced a nightmare Grand Prix. Between losing control in the rain, chaotic team orders, technical frustrations, and tense duels with Hamilton, the Monegasque saw any hope of a podium drift away—and maybe a bit more.
Saturday, first wall
Leclerc’s weekend went off the rails as early as Saturday. During the grid formation lap for the sprint, under a fickle rain, the Monegasque lost control of his Ferrari and hit the wall. Rear suspension damaged, race over even before it started. An avoidable mistake, some will say. An uncontrollable car, they will sigh at Maranello.
On Sunday, Charles starts 8th after a very average qualifying session. In front of him are the two Williams, which he can’t manage to overtake. Gasly is 14th, Ocon is battling with Hamilton on lap 24. The latter gets the upper hand, and Ocon falls out of the points. As for Ferrari, they already have a sense that the day is going to be long.
In lap 39, the first twist: the engineers ask Leclerc to let Hamilton pass, who is equipped with fresher medium tires. Leclerc, on hard tires, complies grudgingly. But Hamilton considers the maneuver too slow and gets irritated. Behind, Carlos Sainz closes in to eight-tenths. Ahead, Antonelli soars.
And then, the drama continues: Hamilton isn’t pulling ahead, Leclerc complains on the radio: he’s bothered by his teammate’s “dirty air,” and—an amusing detail—by the foam of his seat that “slides too much to the right between the legs.” Yes, even champions have comfort issues.
Hamilton, concerned about his tires, asks to be given “his chance.” He’s eventually instructed to give back his position to Leclerc, but he’s slow to comply. Leclerc regains the position on lap 53, frustrated. Meanwhile, Antonelli is out of reach. And in the final lap, Sainz tries to overtake Hamilton… the two make contact. Team spirit denied.
Charles Leclerc, post-race: contained anger
Speaking to journalists after the race, Charles Leclerc holds his tongue, but the annoyance is palpable:
« Most of the time, I say something. Today, I think I won’t say anything. The story will be big enough already. »
He continues, visibly exhausted: « It wasn’t ideal. Far from it. We need to do better, be more robust. There’s too much to review. The swap with Lewis? We should have discussed it beforehand. I was managing my tires to go the distance, and everything got complicated. Carlos arrived, I was surprised. And then we’re fighting for a P8. Nothing glorious. »
Asked about team dynamics, he adds: “There are no tensions with Lewis, I understand his desire to try something. But we didn’t have the car for it. Even if everything had gone perfectly, we would have finished just ahead of Kimi. That says it all.”
Leclerc finishes 7th, earns six points, but remains far from the leader Oscar Piastri (131 pts against 53). Ferrari, however, leaves the weekend with more questions than answers. The next race will be crucial. For the team. For Leclerc. And for a season that is slowly but surely taking on water.
