Ferrari seems to be slowly but surely getting its act together. After a tough start to the 2025 season, failing to clinch a podium in the first four Grands Prix, Charles Leclerc’s third-place finish in Saudi Arabia has renewed hopes for a turnaround. With the result, the Monegasque reached a personal milestone as well, entering an exclusive club.
Though the team has struggled so far, Leclerc has been on a record-breaking run in 2025. At the Japanese GP earlier this year, his P4 finish helped him surpass Sebastian Vettel for the most points scored by a Ferrari driver. After his podium in Saudi Arabia, Leclerc has 1477 points for Ferrari, while Vettel had managed 1,399 during his stint.
The third place was Leclerc’s 44th career podium for Ferrari. That has pushed him into the top-5 of a Ferrari list that includes four former world champions.
With the Saudi result, the Monegasque equalled Fernando Alonso’s podium tally for Ferrari. He sits fifth alongside the Spaniard in the all-time list of 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.
Four-time champion Vettel is joint second on the list with 55 podiums alongside Rubens Barrichello. The 2007 F1 champion, Kimi Raikkonen, is fourth with 52 top-three finishes.
Now that’s quite a group Leclerc has become part of. The 27-year-old has earned his right to be among legends for sure, and his class and quality were evident in the way he drove on Sunday.
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
Although Leclerc did not quite have the raw pace to get a top-three start — his lap time in Q3 was almost three tenths slower than Mercedes’ George Russell — he still got the better of the Briton during the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Ferrari’s superior race pace was evident right through.
He made an incredibly long stint on the mediums, which gave him much fresher tires towards the end of the race. That helped him beat Russell to third.
On the other hand, Leclerc showed his prowess in defense as he kept Norris at bay barely by a second. The McLaren driver was desperate to make it into the podium to keep his championship lead intact against his own teammate, Oscar Piastri. The brilliant racing display by Leclerc even impressed his girlfriend, Alexandra Saint Mleux, too, as she left an “insane” remark on her Instagram story for Leclerc.
“insane.” girl me too
(from alexandra’s story) pic.twitter.com/NBPuNXRh06
— clara (@leclercsletters) April 20, 2025
The Monegasque will now hope to carry forward this momentum and break many more records. Of course, his primary goal would be to win a maiden F1 championship, which seems difficult right now, even though Leclerc claimed after the race that they have a race-winning car, but they are “losing out on weekends on Saturday,” said the Monegasque.
Leclerc further claimed that Ferrari is lacking downforce compared to McLaren, Red Bull, and even Mercedes. While Ferrari doesn’t have a silver bullet to solve its qualifying problems, the Maranello-based team do have a scheduled upgrade for Imola, and they can hope for better performances once the European leg of the season hits.
