Charles Leclerc let slip some info relating to Ferrari’s engine, seemingly towards the staff’s needs, after the Method 1 race in Azerbaijan.
Sky Italy captured the second between Leclerc and his press officer within the post-race media session in Baku.
It was a combined weekend for Leclerc and the Prancing Horse, with the Monegasque qualifying second however struggling to discover a aggressive race tempo in his SF-26. The Ferrari driver struggled not simply towards the Mercedes, which have been the dominant automotive this season, but in addition towards Oscar Piastri’s McLaren and the Crimson Bull duo.
For a lot of the race, Leclerc was resigned to fifth, solely transferring to fourth when Piastri made a mistake and plummeted down the order.
After the race, Sky Italy requested Leclerc whether or not his SF-26 was fitted with the newest-spec ADUO 2 energy unit. He advised the press it was, which appeared to panic his press officer.
“I had the most recent specification,” Leclerc answered when he turned to his press officer after which added: “I don’t know if I’m saying one thing I shouldn’t. However I assumed you knew.”
A assessora do Charles Leclerc negando com a cabeça “disfarçadamente”:
“Você tinha o motor ADUO 1 ou ADUO 2?”
Leclerc: “Eu tinha a versão mais recente, ADUO 2. Não sei se estou dizendo algo que não deveria. Mas pensei que você soubesse.” pic.twitter.com/FIRDwupFbj
— Desacelerando F1 (@desacelerandof) September 26, 2026
An absence of race tempo
Ferrari fighting race tempo has plagued the staff in earlier generations of vehicles. For probably the most half, it hadn’t been as important a difficulty within the 2026 rules, with qualifying taking the hit for the staff.
Nonetheless, the steadiness has shifted, and in current rounds Ferrari have discovered themselves close to the entrance of the grid for the beginning and struggling to maintain up within the race.
Leclerc wasn’t the one Ferrari to wrestle, with Hamilton struggling an analogous destiny and sitting sixth all through the race. The Monegasque urged Ferrari to maintain upgrading the automotive. Particularly as McLaren and Crimson Bull proceed bringing upgrades and making steps ahead.
“They have been very robust,” Leclerc stated when speaking of Mercedes. “McLaren have been additionally robust – not possibly as robust as Crimson Bull, however Crimson Bull have been significantly robust. We all know they’ve a really robust energy unit, so it is a good race for them, however nonetheless.”
“We have been fairly far off Mercedes, far off Crimson Bull, a bit behind McLaren – these are our rivals, and it’s not new. It’s been fairly just a few races now that we’re dropping a little bit little bit of monitor to them, so it’s necessary that we react to that and that we carry upgrades in an effort to shut the hole once more.”
The early hope that adopted Ferrari and, significantly, Hamilton within the early phases of this season appears to have handed. The Maranello staff is resigned to preventing for the runners-up locations within the championship.
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