Charles Leclerc ended Ferrari's most difficult period since the 2020 season at Silverstone, following the crash in Monaco, a hydraulic failure in Barcelona, and an eighth-place finish in Austria. The Monegasque driver took the lead from the start of the British Grand Prix in Northamptonshire and, in a race where he finished at an unbeatable pace, achieved his first victory since his win in Austin in 2024. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, however, was forced to retire early from the race; a brake shield failure was discovered in the McLaren driver's car.
The root of the problems: brakes, setup, and a crisis of confidence.
Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur emphasized that despite Leclerc's poor results in recent weeks, he was never pessimistic about the data. “I remained optimistic about Charles in terms of performance; when we looked at the data, we saw that he was there on every lap,” said Vasseur, adding that a victory at Silverstone would give the driver 'the biggest boost' to his confidence. According to the team principal, the root of the problem was the braking system: Leclerc switched to Carbone Industrie brake discs used by Hamilton a few races ago, and then the set-up was reworked.
Leclerc attributed the Monaco crash to the brakes; however, supplier Brembo did not agree with this assessment. In Barcelona qualifying, the Monegasque driver suffered another crash due to his own fault, and while running sixth in the race, he was forced to retire due to a hydraulic failure. At the Red Bull Ring, despite starting second, his race pace was insufficient, and he finished eighth.
Lessons learned from the sprint race brought victory.
Leclerc implemented the decisive setup changes after the Silverstone sprint race. Finishing fifth after losing three positions in the first lap of the sprint, the driver stated that he improved the feel of the car entering corners with fine-tuning specific to the SF-26. ’It’s not possible to look at the data and say, “My God, this is what we need to change‘; it’s a decision that comes from a combination of intuition and feeling,’ said Leclerc, expressing his happiness at seeing that this approach had been successful. Vasseur also said that the consistent race pace, which the 28-year-old driver squeezed into one or two seconds in the first 20 laps, was key to his victory against Antonelli.
Leclerc made it clear what winning meant to him: “The conditions have been really tough in the last few races, and there’s been a lot of negativity around me. In this sport, you can go from hero to zero and zero to hero in two days.” Explaining that he tried to stay away from social media and outside commentary despite all the pressure, the driver added, “I knew I wasn’t a bad driver overnight; I saw that the issue was finding the feel with the car.” However, he also emphasized that he didn’t think everything was solved with just one victory: “It’s just one race, it wouldn’t be right to think the battle is over.”
Leclerc's next test to verify his form will be at Spa-Francorchamps, the circuit where he secured his first Formula 1 victory in 2019. The Belgian Grand Prix is the next stop of the season.