Leclerc demands Ferrari investigation after Miami GP performance drop

Charles Leclerc is demanding Ferrari find answers after his race pace disappeared between Saturday's sprint and Sunday's main event at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Monegasque driver qualified third and finished third in the sprint, but on Sunday he faded from the lead fight to finish sixth on the road — dropping to eighth after a post-race penalty. Now he wants the team to dig into the data.

Why it matters:

Leclerc's pace drop is the latest sign that Ferrari's 2025 challenger still suffers from inconsistent tire management and race-day degradation. With McLaren and Mercedes closing the gap, the Scuderia cannot afford unexplained performance swings if they aim to stay in championship contention.

The details:

• Leclerc started third on the grid and battled Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli for the lead early on.
• Tire trouble: He reported massive degradation on the medium compound, and even after switching to hards, the pace never reached sprint levels.
• Chain reaction: George Russell's early pit stop forced Ferrari to cover, putting Leclerc into traffic and ultimately costing him ground to Oscar Piastri and Russell.
• The final lap clash with Piastri for the podium only sealed a disappointing afternoon — but the root cause was earlier pace loss.

What's next:

Leclerc called on the team to analyze the data thoroughly. "We need to look at it," he said. "We've lost a lot of performance compared to Saturday. I would like to understand exactly what happened." Ferrari will likely focus on tire behavior and setup differences between sprint and race conditions ahead of the next round.