21/05/2025 10:10
Ferrari is expecting to endure a tough weekend in Monaco this
weekend, 12 months on from its triumph at the historic venue. The
Italian squad has struggled for form across the opening seven
rounds of the season and currently sit fourth in the constructors'
championship. It has largely endured pace challenges across
qualifying laps, a matter that reached a low point last time out at
Imola. Both Hamilton and Leclerc failed to advance into the top 10
shootout on Saturday before working their way up to the points in
the grand prix. Ferrari's qualifying pain does not bode well for
Monaco, where grid position is crucial as overtaking chances are
very few during the race. Last year, Leclerc triumphed on home soil
for the first time as he converted his pole position into victory.
When asked for his expectations regarding Monaco this time around,
Leclerc told media including RacingNews365 : "A very difficult
weekend. "I think Monaco will expose quite a few weaknesses of our
car. "There are also a lot of things you can't expect in Monaco
with the amount of risk you take in qualifying. "The car is set up
in a very different way so I hope it will surprise us. Lewis
Hamilton signals new Ferrari methods in play The upcoming round at
Monaco will be Hamilton's first as a Ferrari driver following his
switch from Mercedes. The circuit is not one of Hamilton's most
successful during his illustrious career, with his last triumph at
the venue coming in 2019. As he continues to embed himself into the
Ferrari set-up, Hamilton suggested he will trial a fresh approach
to the Monaco event. "I'm not sure either to be honest," Hamilton
stated when asked to predict Ferrari's Monaco form. "We've been
struggling, particularly on a single lap. So I don't know how
that's going to go. "I've got some ideas that I'm going to try to
apply next week that people have been a little bit reluctant to do,
because we've had lots of other things to focus on. "But I'm hoping
next week we can find something to unlock some more performance. I
really don't know how this car's going to be."
