Charles Leclerc described Ferrari's start to the Dutch Grand Prix as a "wake-up call" after he and Lewis Hamilton struggled throughout Friday at Zandvoort.

Leclerc and Hamilton were both outside of the top 13 in first practice and only improved to eighth and sixth respectively in the second session, nearly one second off pace-setter Lando Norris.

In the last race before the summer break, Leclerc took pole position in Hungary and was in the fight for victory but Ferrari were well off the pace in Zandvoort.

"It was a very, very, very, very difficult Friday. Probably the worst Friday of the season," said Leclerc, who has been on the podium five times this year.

"Right after the holidays and it's a bit of a wake-up call. We have had some difficult Fridays and now it's up to us to turn the situation around.

"For sure, not an easy day. FP1 was extremely difficult. FP2 was slightly better but still very far off where we want to be.

"I don't expect to fully turn the situation because McLaren are in a league of their own with Aston Martin, which is a surprise for us. We will try to improve the car because there is plenty to be done."

Leclerc and Hamilton were competitive in the first sector but both consistently lost time in the middle sector, which features long radius corners - a weakness of Ferrari's 2025 car.

"We are losing basically 90 per cent of the time in two corners. There's something our car cannot do at the moment and we are trying to find out why it's so concentrated on two corners. We will try to find a solution," said Leclerc.

"It's a very strange season. I would never have said I would be on pole in Budapest I don't want to have a target because after a difficult weekend, it's not an exciting target but I'm looking forward to trying to turn the situation [around] and to make a miracle but it won't be an easy weekend for us."

Hamilton spun twice on Friday - the first coming up to the banked Turn 3 in first practice, and the second coming as he touched the grass at the exit of Turn 9 in second practice.

The seven-time world champion, who came into the weekend stating he wanted to "enjoy" the last 10 races of 2025, put the spins down to pushing too hard and was more optimistic than Leclerc.

"It's not been the worst of days. We were making progress. We were quite far off in FP1, a lot more than normal," he said.

"The first lap felt pretty decent, then it was bit of a challenge. We made some progress over lunch but still quite a chunk off.

"We have some work to do with the set-up. Pace-wise, I don't know how we will find eight tenths but we will try our best."

Saturday August 30
9.20am: F1 Academy Qualifying
10.05am: Dutch Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 10:30am)*
1pm: Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying build-up
2pm: DUTCH GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING
4pm: F1 Academy Race 1

Sunday August 31
9.35am: F1 Academy Race 2
10.50am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP reaction

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime