Charles Leclerc explodes in foul-mouthed Ferrari radio rant at British Grand Prix | F1 | Sport

Charles Leclerc launched into a sensational rant after qualifying at the British Grand Prix, cursing his performance in a fit of rage. The Monegasque racer showed pace that had him in contention for pole position, but he was forced to settle for sixth on the grid.

Both Leclerc and team-mate Lewis Hamilton looked rapid throughout the practice and early qualifying sessions, and the Ferrari duo even ended Q2 with the top two spots on the timing screen locked out. However, Max Verstappen, both McLaren drivers and Mercedes‘ George Russell all leapfrogged them in Q3. On the radio, Leclerc expressed his frustration to race engineer Bryan Bozzi. “F***,” he fumed. “F***, f***, f***, f***. F*** that. So f***ing s*** I am. I am so f***ing s***. That’s all I am.”

Leclerc now faces a long road back to score his fifth podium of the 2025 season. The 27-year-old now faces the daunting task of passing the four drivers ahead of him in the Drivers’ Championship standings, as well as his seven-time world champion team-mate.

Ferrari‘s long-serving driver’s frustrations were still clear to see when he passed through the media pen, too. “I haven’t been good enough,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Unfortunately, it’s been more qualy than not that I found myself here saying ‘it could have been, it should have been’.

“But, at the end of the day, if I don’t put the job inside the car and I don’t put all my best corners, then I ended up P6 instead of being on the front row. So I can only blame myself. I am only disappointed because quali used to be one of my strengths.

“I feel for quite a bit now I am performing something in races, but in qualifying I am missing something. We have some issues on the car that we are trying to drive around, it’s not always easy, but it’s not an excuse. You start from sixth, to try and find clear air is going to be very difficult. I’ll try my best.”

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While Leclerc was furious, Verstappen was surprised for the right reasons. The reigning world champion complained about the handling of his car after the first Q3 runs but produced a magical lap to secure an unexpected pole position.

He will start Sunday’s Grand Prix ahead of title rival Oscar Piastri on the front row, while Lando Norris was unable to reward his packed-out personal grandstands with a pole position on home turf, settling instead for third place.