Discount Charles Leclerc at your peril!

By Ella Keene

Why you shouldn’t discount Charles Leclerc from the 2026 season…

After a tough season for both Ferrari drivers in 2025, it will be interesting to see how far the team can push to place higher this year. Despite finishing fifth and sixth in the championship, there were nearly 90 points between the team’s drivers with Charles Leclerc taking the lead. Unexpected for many when he’s racing alongside seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

As Leclerc enters his eighth season at Ferrari, he has spoken to F1 about his hopes for the new SF26. Even though it is too early in the season to tell, at the moment it seems there are no big problems with the car and with these new regulations, the Monegasque feels it’s a promising start for the team. 

Ferrari Team principle, Fred Vasseur, has been working with Leclerc since his karting days. The trust that they have built throughout this time will be pivotal when it comes to the development of the new car, hopefully propelling Leclerc onto the podium race after race.

As we have seen, Ferrari can be their own worst enemy at times with errors made in strategy calls that have led to low finishes or even DNFs. However, the main difficulty faced in the 2025 season was a lack of pace from the car. 

Despite their race pace allowing them to move towards the front of the field, the team’s qualifying pace is where they really need to make changes. Both drivers have wrestled with the car this year and vocalised their struggles throughout the season.

If the team can get it right this year, they could be on the front foot for the current set of  regulations, giving them an advantage against their main competitors like McLaren and Red Bull.

Leclerc’s driving skill has never been in doubt – since his maiden win in Spa at just 21 years old, he was deemed a force to be reckoned with. With him claiming seven wins since then, he’s never been a driver to discount from the fight. Time will tell if the team can support him and execute results that place him on the top step of the podium.