Despite two consecutive podiums and clear progress at Ferrari, Charles Leclerc believes he is still far from fully exploiting the potential of his SF-26.
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Charles Leclerc is back in form, but refuses to declare victory too soon. After his win at Silverstone and then his second place at the Belgian Grand Prix, the Monegasque asserts that he has made progress in his understanding of the Ferrari SF-26.
However, he believes he is still far from the level he wishes to achieve.
“I am convinced that I have taken a step forward. Am I at the level I want to be? Not yet.”
A better understanding of the SF-26
For several months, Leclerc had been struggling with a single-seater whose full potential he found difficult to exploit.
In Monaco, Canada, and then Spain, he had notably suffered with braking, while also mentioning a lack of balance and feel at the wheel.
The breakthrough finally came during the British Grand Prix, where the analysis of data collected on Friday allowed him to adapt his driving style.
Since then, the results have immediately followed with a victory at Silverstone and then a second place at Spa-Francorchamps, where Ferrari was nevertheless expected to struggle against Mercedes.
“I still can’t drive naturally”
Despite these performances, Leclerc explains that he still has to compensate for certain characteristics of his single-seater.
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“There are still things about this car that I need to adapt to. I can’t yet drive completely naturally, and that makes me lose time at certain points in the race.”
The Ferrari driver therefore believes he has significant room for improvement.
“I still have several aspects to improve to be more performant. But it’s clearly a step forward, and I’m satisfied with it.”
A cautious approach for the future
Despite his two consecutive podiums, Leclerc prefers to remain cautious.
According to him, this generation of single-seaters is extremely sensitive to the slightest adjustments, which makes any projection difficult from one weekend to the next.
“I will continue to take the races one after another. With these cars, it’s very difficult to be certain that if one weekend goes well, the next will be identical.”
The Monegasque emphasizes that very small details can completely alter performance.
“Depending on your driving style, you never get exactly the same energy deployment from one lap to the next. That’s probably the most frustrating thing about these cars.”
Despite this caution, Ferrari seems to have regained positive momentum. It now remains to confirm this progress in the upcoming races to continue its climb in the championship, where Leclerc is now 33 points behind Lewis Hamilton, second in the drivers’ standings.
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