"He cannot complain in Singapore when he does the same": Charles Leclerc lashes out at Max Verstappen

Charles Leclerc was seemingly frustrated during the 2025 F1 US Grand Prix qualifying session after an encounter with Max Verstappen on the track. While there was no impeding, which the stewards would have noted, Leclerc seemed to have found Verstappen in a bad section of the track.

The qualifying session ended with Max Verstappen clinching yet another pole position, setting tough competition for the entire McLaren crew. While his weekend has been brilliant so far, he had a close moment with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc during the qualifying session.

The Dutchman was on his outlap when Leclerc closed him up on a hotlap. While he did move away from the racing line, the sensitive aerodynamics of the Ferrari seemingly hampered his lap, owing to the dirty air from Verstappen's car.

Following this, a frustrated Leclerc vented on his team radio, saying:

"What Max did is[...]He cannot complain in Singapore when he does the same elsewhere, so... anyway. F*ck's sake, It's a shame for the traffic."

The Singapore incident Leclerc referenced was at the Marina Bay Street Circuit earlier this season, when Max Verstappen's final run was hampered by Lando Norris moving slowly on the final section of the track. That was also not an impeding issue; however, the dirty air had made it difficult for Verstappen to control the car.

---

Charles Leclerc optimistic to hold position after strong qualifying result at COTA

Despite the uncompetitive pace Ferrari showcased during the Sprint qualifying session, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton managed to put in strong lap times during the main qualifying session earlier on Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas.

Leclerc managed to put his Ferrari in the second row, starting P3, and Hamilton will be starting the race in P5, with the Mercedes of George Russell splitting the teammates.

Speaking after the qualifying session, Charles Leclerc revealed that the team gained some data from the Sprint earlier on Saturday, which they used to improve the car during qualifying.

"It's been an interesting Sprint race this morning, I think we learnt a lot. We applied that in qualifying and it seems to be working, so I hope that from now on, we kind of catch back a little bit."

He added that the team has been performing better in races than in the qualifying sessions, and hopes to hold his position against the competitors.

"Our car is normally stronger in the race than it is in qualifying, so that's a positive. I don't know if it's strong enough to go and fight with Max and the McLaren, but we'll do everything. Hopefully a good start like this morning or last year and then focus on staying in front."

Ferrari recently dropped to third place in the Constructors' Championship after the race in Baku. Furthermore, their performance in Singapore has put them in a compromising position, with Red Bull Racing just eight points behind them in the championship.

Edited by Gunaditya Tripathi