"All the time I get f**ked": Charles Leclerc laments the safety car timing during the F1 Imola GP

Charles Leclerc suffered bad luck at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Esteban Ocon's stranded Haas called out for a Virtual Safety Car. This led to the Monegasque having an outburst over the radio, where he claimed that he always seemed to be on the wrong end whenever a Safety Car or a VSC was called out, scrapping his plans.

The 27-year-old has a long-standing history of his race being messed up by a safety car period. Back in 2022, at his home race in Monaco, a Safety Car saw him drop down from the lead of the race to P4.

Moreover, this trend has continued to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this year. The Monegasque was on an undercut strategy and was aiming to get past his rivals, who were on old tires.

However, Ocon's Haas being stranded by the side of the track urged the FIA to call for a virtual safety car, which scuppered Leclerc's earlier plans, who radioed his frustration with such instances always happening to him:

"Unbelievable. This is unbelievable. All the time I get f**ked with this virtual safety car or safety car."

Charles Leclerc started the race in 11th after he had been knocked out in Q2 during qualifying yesterday.

---

Ferrari's home race weekend worsens for Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc at the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna - Source: Getty

It's understood that Ferrari drivers need to perform on their home soil. However, the SF-25 has not been kind to its masters so far this year, which led to the scarlet duo being knocked out in Q2 yesterday.

Charles Leclerc was dejected by his result on home soil and shared his disappointment in the post-qualifying interview later on, via Formula 1:

"[I’m] very disappointed, especially at home, at such a special Grand Prix for the team – it just hurts. It would have hurt anyway, whatever [the] track, but here it hurts even more. I have no words about our performance today.

"The only thing we can say is that we are sorry for this kind of performance at home and in general. We are just not good enough at the moment and we’ve got to do better. Unfortunately this is all I can say at the moment and this is all we are trying to do, is to be better and to work in the right direction."

This showcased Leclerc's downhearted feelings about Ferrari's weekend in Imola. On the other hand, he was not the only one who had a tough outing in the SF-25, as Lewis Hamilton also appeared to be struggling in the Prancing Horse.

The seven-time champion qualified 12th and has only been able to get into the lower fringes of points mid-way through the race. Putting forth the difficult nature of the 2025 Ferrari challenger that has held back Leclerc and Hamilton so far.