Ferrari have had a tough start to the 2025 season as they failed to clinch a podium in any of the first four Grands Prix. However, that changed in round five in Saudi Arabia as Charles Leclerc drove an outstanding race to finish third.
Although he did not quite have the pace to get a top-three start, as his lap time in Q3 was almost three tenths slower than Mercedes’ George Russell, he still got the better of the Briton during the Saudi Arabian GP due to Ferrari’s superior race pace.
Leclerc made an incredibly long stint on the mediums, which gave him much fresher tires towards the end of the race. It is this that helped him to beat Russell to third.
In the process, Leclerc also registered his 44th career podium and has now joined Ferrari in an elite list, which includes three former world champions.
The Monegasque has now equalled Fernando Alonso’s podium tally for Ferrari and sits fifth alongside the Spaniard in the all-time list for most podiums by a Ferrari driver. The list is led by seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, who registered a staggering 116 podiums for the Prancing Horse.
Meanwhile, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel is joint second on the list with 55 podiums alongside Rubens Barrichello, while 2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen is fourth with 52 top-three finishes.
Most podiums for Ferrari:
1. Michael Schumacher, 116
2. Sebastian Vettel, 55
3. Rubens Barrichello, 55
4. Kimi Raikkonen, 52
5= Charles Leclerc, 44
5= Fernando Alonso, 44 pic.twitter.com/swzEPgBSLt— Ferrari News (@FanaticsFerrari) April 20, 2025
The 2025 season seems to be a campaign when Leclerc is breaking records, as at the Japanese GP earlier this year, his P4 finish helped him surpass Vettel for the most points scored by a Ferrari driver. Now, after his podium in Saudi Arabia, Leclerc has scored 1477 points for Ferrari, while Vettel managed 1,399.
The Monegasque will now hope to carry forward this momentum and break many more records in the years to come. That said, his primary goal would be to win a maiden F1 championship, which seems difficult at least this season, considering the way the Maranello-based outfit have begun the 2025 campaign.
