"We are miles off, like miles off": Charles Leclerc's glum verdict about his Ferrari during the F1 Dutch GP FP1

Charles Leclerc has yet again given a downbeat verdict on where Ferrari stacks up against the rivals at the 2025 Dutch GP. In the Free Practice 1 session, he fumed over the team radio and made it crystal clear that they were nowhere near the heavy hitters of the sport.

The Maranello-based Ferrari Formula 1 team ended the Free Practice 1 session at the Zandvoort racing circuit down in P14 (+1.673 behind leader Lando Norris) and P15 (+1.682). Charles Leclerc managed a P14 finish, whereas the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton just ended up behind him.

The pace of Ferrari's SF-25 was so bad that even midfield teams like Alpine, Kick Sauber, Racing Bulls, Aston Martin, and even Williams finished ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton.

Seeing how his outing was panning out on the race track, Charles Leclerc took to his team radio during the 60-minute session and added the following:

"My opinion is that we should focus about what we are doing now. We are miles off. Like, miles off."

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"My opinion is that we should focus about what we are doing now. "We are miles off. Like, miles off."

Charles Leclerc has come into the ongoing Zandvoort race weekend (Round 15) on the back of a long summer break. In Round 14, just before the start of the summer break, he had a promising outing in qualifying, securing a sensational pole position ahead of the McLaren drivers. However, an issue during the main Grand Prix halted his progress, and he missed out on a podium finish.

The way the Dutch Grand Prix race weekend has so far panned out, Leclerc and Co. are in for a tough three days at the Zandvoort race track.

"We want to beat Red Bull and Mercedes" Charles Leclerc on 2025 target

While Charles Leclerc cut out as a frustrated figure during the Dutch GP Free Practice 1 session, ahead of the on-track action at the event, Leclerc made it known that Ferrari was targeting to beat Red Bull and the Toto Wolff-led Mercedes team.

Leclerc understood that McLaren was a bit too far out of reach for his team and thus, in an interview with F1, he said:

"Another clear target is we want to beat both Red Bull and Mercedes in the next few races and the second half of the season. One thing remains, though, is McLaren remains the team to beat and will be very difficult to beat."

The Ferrari Formula 1 team is in second place in the drivers' standings with 260 points. Mercedes is not too far behind, having amassed 236 points, and the Max Verstappen-led Red Bull is in fourth with 194.

With only 10 Grand Prix remaining in the 2025 season, the fight for second place in the Constructors' Championship will be tight between the three teams.