The Formula 1 season is always a grueling race, where the peaks of glory and the valleys of disappointment go hand in hand. For Ferrari, a legendary name in motorsport, recent years have been a long series of frustrations, unfulfilled promises, and repeated heartaches. But rarely has the frustration been so clearly and publicly expressed by one of their own brightest talents: Charles Leclerc. His latest statements after the Singapore Grand Prix are not just a tired sigh but an alarming bell, possibly the final signal for a fateful split between him and the team that was once his childhood dream.

The Burden of a Failing Legend

Ferrari, with its illustrious history and proud “Prancing Horse” emblem, has always been the dream destination for every F1 driver. Charles Leclerc, a young talent from Monaco, was once considered the “golden boy,” the future of the Scuderia. He was expected to resurrect the team, bringing back the championships that have eluded them for so long. However, instead of resounding victories, Leclerc has faced a harsh reality: a consistently unstable car, baffling strategic decisions, and a long string of unsuccessful seasons.

In 2022, Ferrari had a dream start, seemingly with the championship in their grasp, but failed upgrades and tactical blunders allowed Max Verstappen and Red Bull to pull away. Then, in 2024, they once again showed the potential to compete with McLaren for race wins and the constructors’ championship, only for a terrible winter to push them back to square one, facing a winless season and the risk of losing third place to Verstappen.

Leclerc has witnessed it all. He has been a part of this arduous journey, from fleeting moments of hope to crushing defeats. As the “Ferrari man” and the team’s “golden boy,” he has given his all, but everyone has a breaking point. After the Singapore Grand Prix, that limit seems to have been reached.

Singapore Grand Prix: The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back

The Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore is always a challenging race, demanding high precision and endurance from both car and driver. For Ferrari, it was another weekend of deep disappointment. Both Charles Leclerc and his teammate Lewis Hamilton struggled to make any impact on the podium positions.

Saturday’s qualifying session highlighted the problem: Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari’s fastest driver, was half a second slower than the pole-sitter. George Russell was only quick enough for sixth on the grid. On race day, the situation didn’t improve. The car was plagued with technical issues, holding both drivers back. Leclerc eventually finished sixth, the first of the Ferraris to cross the line. Hamilton followed in seventh, but due to severe brake problems in the final laps, he had to cut nearly every corner on the track, resulting in a 5-second post-race penalty that demoted him to eighth.

This event underscored a painful reality: despite having exceptional talent like Lewis Hamilton—the most successful driver in F1 history—and Charles Leclerc—one of its most promising talents—Ferrari’s car failed to support them. This is not a new story. Over the past two decades, the list of renowned drivers let down by Ferrari is long: Alonso, Massa, Raikkonen (in his second stint), Vettel, Leclerc, Sainz, and now Hamilton. Ferrari consistently recruits top-tier driving talent but fails to provide them with the hardware to win.

The Desperate Cry of a “Passenger”

After the race in Singapore, Charles Leclerc could no longer hold back. He publicly declared that he and Lewis Hamilton “were passengers of Ferrari’s failing Formula 1 car, as we can’t outperform it to get back to the podium positions.” This statement was not just an admission of poor performance but a profound expression of helplessness.

“From lap eight, basically, it was all about managing those brakes,” Leclerc said after finishing sixth in Singapore. “I think everybody has to manage to a certain extent on a track like this, but I think we were on the worst side of things, and that makes it extremely difficult. Our whole race was very tricky.”

On the team radio, Leclerc’s anger was palpable: “Don’t even complain, for f***’s sake, we are doing 200m of lift and coast all the time.” He was venting at his engineer, who had asked him to lift off the throttle and coast more. Leclerc emphasized that he was already doing this for 200 meters at the end of every straight on every lap. One doesn’t need to be a racing expert to know that not braking or accelerating for 200 meters on every straight is not conducive to being competitive.

Leclerc further explained his frustration to the media, complaining about the team’s inability to make any mid-season progress. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the race car to fight with the guys in front. McLaren has always had the same gap on us compared to the beginning of the year. Red Bull did a step from Monza and had the same level of McLaren. Mercedes now is at the same level of McLaren and Red Bull, and then there’s us. It’s not easy, obviously, because you want to fight for better positions, but at the moment, it just feels like we’re kind of passengers to the car, and we cannot extract much more.”

The feeling of being a “passenger” at Ferrari is one Leclerc knows all too well. He is undoubtedly one of the best drivers on the grid, having outperformed Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz, and now Lewis Hamilton. He clearly has the pace to compete for a world championship. His qualifying abilities are unmatched when he has a car to back them up. But so often, his title hopes have been held back by his own team.

Despite having worked on this car since 2022, Leclerc described it as being in the worst state it had been under the current regulations, calling it “understeery, yet still very snappy and unpredictable.” This is a difficult pill to swallow for the 27-time pole sitter and eight-time Grand Prix winner, who hasn’t experienced such a lack of performance since the 2021 season. What makes it harder is how Ferrari missed out on the 2024 constructors’ title to McLaren by just 14 points. “Obviously, coming from a year like last year where you’re fighting for the World Constructors’ Championship, and then you come here with high expectations, you come low of your expectations from the beginning, and you don’t even see a progression throughout the year… it’s not easy,” Leclerc admitted.

The Brake Nightmare and an Uncertain Future

The Ferrari car’s slowness has been a season-long issue, but what made the Singapore Grand Prix so particularly painful for Leclerc? Ferrari just went through its fifth consecutive Formula 1 weekend without a podium. Since the summer break, they’ve looked lost compared to their competitors. Finishing second in the constructors’ championship now feels very unlikely, while losing third to Max Verstappen seems very likely. This raises serious concerns heading into 2026 with new regulations for both drivers and teams.

Team Principal Fred Vasseur blamed the poor performance at Marina Bay on their poor execution on Saturday. That’s fair enough; qualifying sixth and seventh is never going to make the race easy. However, a general lack of pace with the SF25s feels like the more important point to focus on.

The biggest issue is those terrible Ferrari brakes. Leclerc’s radio message about lifting and coasting was one thing, but the real show of just how bad the Ferrari brakes are was Lewis Hamilton’s final laps. With three laps to go, his Ferrari SF25 lost its brakes, and the seven-time champion was left nursing a wounded car around Marina Bay while Fernando Alonso reeled him in. Hamilton was completely unable to stop his Ferrari, having to rely on engine braking instead. It was an incredibly dangerous situation that probably should have resulted in a “meatball flag,” meaning his car was unsafe to drive and he had to pit, essentially ending his race.

This isn’t a new problem for Ferrari’s drivers. They have constantly had to lift and coast this season to preserve their brakes. This is a massive time killer for the team. The drivers can’t go on the attack against others ahead of them for fear of destroying their brakes. They can’t push to try and pull off an undercut or overcut to make up places through strategy. They are constantly having to hold themselves back, and for an F1 driver, that is just infuriating.

Will Leclerc Leave the Prancing Horse After 2026?

While Leclerc may have committed to Ferrari for next season, his commitment beyond that is in serious question. There is increasing doubt about whether Ferrari will produce a fast enough package to convince the Monegasque to stay at the team beyond 2026. While Leclerc might be Ferrari through and through, the 27-year-old would rather win a championship elsewhere than never win one at all.

Charles Leclerc’s manager, Nicolas Todt, told The Straight Times about how the F1 grid could evolve in 2026. “A lot of drivers are waiting to see how well each team will have worked and how good their car will be to say, ‘I want to stay in my team or I want to go to another team because they’re doing a better job.’ Charles is one of the best talents of his generation with Max and a few of the drivers. He’s not a baby anymore because he has done a lot of seasons with Ferrari, and of course, I think that we still need to have a winning car. Today, we have a good car but not enough to win the title. We hope it will happen, and we hope next year Ferrari will have a very good car with the new regulations.”

Leclerc’s team isn’t foolish. They know they might need to move away, and they’ll be making themselves known to the other teams on the grid. He’ll be far from the only driver doing that. Everyone is waiting to see what happens with the competitive order next season. They want to see who has the new regulations figured out, and then in 2026, we could see the driver market go crazy as some of the long-term servants like Leclerc start to jump ship.

Leclerc’s words are more than just an emotional outburst; they are a serious warning. Ferrari is at a crossroads: either they must change drastically to provide Leclerc with a winning car, or they will face the risk of losing one of their most exceptional talents. The future of Charles Leclerc and Ferrari hangs in the balance, and this story will undoubtedly continue to dominate the F1 headlines.