Charles Leclerc was left to rue a disappointing Sao Paulo Grand Prix, a race through which he laboured to eighth place with what he described as a “full catastrophe” of a automotive beneath him.
The Monegasque was in chipper temper upon arrival in Sao Paulo, having welcome his first youngster, Bianca, earlier within the week.
However as soon as it received all the way down to enterprise, issues went bitter, as an engine-related grid penalty noticed him relegated 10 locations, leaving him in thirteenth on the grid after a robust qualifying exhibiting.
Within the race, issues failed to enhance by a lot, as he was unable to extract ample warmth out of his Intermediate tyres through the first stint, and was shortly overtaken by teammate Lewis Hamilton, who began twentieth resulting from a complete PU change penalty.
It was a race of contrasts for Leclerc and Hamilton, the latter struggling with maybe some gradual reactions to the weather by the pit wall.
For Leclerc, he conveyed his pleasure within the workforce’s dealing with of his personal scenario, however defined that he, not like Hamilton, struggled massively on his first stint.
“The execution was okay, however the tempo within the first stint was horrendous,” he mentioned.
“Significantly at the beginning, we had a lot wrestle getting these tyres as much as temperature, it’s unbelievable.
“It’s simply undrivable. Lewis positively discovered a means as a result of he had an unimaginable begin, however for me, it was identical to driving on ice.
“In a while, I had the tempo however we had little or no free air, and we additionally misplaced quite a lot of time within the straights.
“The primary stint was very poor, the second stint on the gentle was truly fairly good. However not a lot free air.
“On the finish, by being affected person and making the correct selection, we ended up in P7 behind the highest three groups.”
‘A lot to study’ for Ferrari – Charles Leclerc
Leclerc was left annoyed as his efforts gave him a meagre eighth place, as Ferrari ceded its problem within the Constructors’ Championship to Mercedes.
The driveability of the SF-26 has been one thing that Leclerc has struggled with this yr, a role-reversal from final yr, with Hamilton discovering issues a bit of simpler on his facet.
And in summarising the issues, Leclerc gave an uncompromising verdict.
“There may be a lot to study. For qualifying, there are issues we are able to study from and do higher.
“For [the race], and nonetheless in qualifying, I felt like we’re going into the rain and it’s like a coin-flip. Perhaps we find yourself on the correct facet of issues, or we find yourself on the [wrong side].
“It’s only a full catastrophe to drive. We’ve received quite a lot of work to do on that facet.”
READ MORE – F1 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix – Race Outcomes