Charles Leclerc stands by Ferrari’s “no-brainer” name forward of F1 2026

Charles Leclerc says he has no regrets over Ferrari’s determination to desert improvement of their 2025 challenger early within the season.

After a troublesome begin to the yr, Ferrari halted upgrades in April. 

Group principal Frederic Vasseur later admitted he had “underestimated” the psychological influence of stopping improvement after just some races.

His clarification has since been criticised by Jean Alesi, who labelled it a “weak excuse”.

Ferrari’s lack of upgrades has left them heading in the right direction for one more winless marketing campaign – their third since 2020.

Talking forward of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Leclerc mentioned the choice was a “no-brainer”, even when it made the season a irritating one.

“Not a lot as a result of we have been at a technical drawback from the primary race,” Leclerc mentioned.

“It’s not prefer it modified massively our method to the season and we noticed it comparatively rapidly that we wouldn’t be preventing for the world title as a result of McLaren was too sturdy. Pink Bull was clearly beginning to make massive features.

“There wasn’t very a lot of some extent to place all our assets in making an attempt to take the third or the second place if all the things was going tremendous effectively within the constructors’ at the price of subsequent yr, whichever price it might be. It’s by no means one thing you need to do.

“I might have a lot most well-liked pushing the event the entire yr to attempt to clinch that world title 100%. However in case you are within the place that we have been in firstly of the yr, I believe it was form of a no brainer so I don’t remorse it.”

Leclerc comfortable along with his personal efficiency

For Leclerc, it has been one other standout season. 

He has dominated new teammate Lewis Hamilton throughout each main metric.

Leclerc has taken all seven of Ferrari’s podiums this yr, whereas Hamilton has not completed increased than fourth in a grand prix.

“Personally, I’m fairly glad. I believe it’s been a robust season on my aspect. You all the time attempt to enhance from one season to the opposite. And that’s what I’ve tried to do that yr. And I’m glad with the work. Then, sadly, the performances should not the place they need to be,” Leclerc added.

“And I’m not as glad in regards to the outcome aspect of issues and the efficiency we’ve proven, particularly after final yr, once we ended up sturdy. The expectation was one other one. However yeah, we’ve pushed.

“I believe we reacted effectively as a crew from the primary race to the final race, making an attempt to show that scenario round. It wasn’t straightforward as a result of we didn’t have that many upgrades as we’re focusing totally on 2026. However yeah, I believe we carried out effectively as a crew on monitor.

“Then what we’re lacking ultimately is the efficiency on the automotive. And for that, I hope that subsequent yr will probably be higher.”