'I don't regret it' – Leclerc insists Ferrari decision to focus early on 2026 was a 'no-brainer'

Charles Leclerc has admitted that, despite enduring a frustrating year with Ferrari, the decision to switch focus to 2026 was a “no-brainer” as the team quickly realised they would not be able to get involved in the 2025 title battle.

The Scuderia suffered their worst result since 2020 as they settled for P4 in the Constructors’ Championship, dropping behind McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull and failing to win any Grands Prix.

Both Leclerc and Team Principal Fred Vasseur have explained that they became aware early on that they would not be able to fight on an equal standing with their rivals, so they chose to put more resources into next season, when the new regulations and car design are poised to shake up the competitive order.

This meant that while they could introduce mechanical upgrades throughout the year, they neglected aerodynamic development, forcing the Monegasque driver to extract as much as possible as their rivals continued to improve their cars.

Asked how significant the psychological burden was of knowing he would be at a technical disadvantage as the season progressed, Leclerc replied: “Well, not so much because we were at a technical disadvantage from the first race.

“So, it's not like it changed massively our approach to the season. And we saw it relatively quickly that we wouldn't be fighting for the world title because McLaren was too strong, Red Bull was obviously starting to make big gains, there wasn’t much point in putting all our resources into trying to take the third or second place – if everything was going super well – in the Constructors', at the cost of next year, whichever cost it may be.

“So yeah, it’s never something you want to do. I would have much preferred pushing the development the whole year to try and clinch that world title, 100%.

“But if you are in the position that we were in at the beginning of the year, I think it was kind of a no-brainer. So, I don’t regret it.”

Despite the challenges, Leclerc delivered one pole position and seven podiums, leading to him taking P5 in the Drivers’ Standings, albeit 77 points behind Mercedes’ George Russell.

His team mate Lewis Hamilton had a similarly tough campaign with Ferrari as multiple Q1 exits frequently left him downbeat, while it was also his first season without a Grand Prix podium since he joined F1 back in 2007.

Prompted to elaborate on their troubles, Leclerc continued: “I think for us there's not only one reason. There are many reasons which, at different times, played a role. In the beginning of ’22, we actually started off quite strongly, but we were struggling with porpoising, where Red Bull had a very stable platform.

“And they were actually quite a lot overweight, so as soon as they took off that weight, they were suddenly at the level where they've been since then. And then for last year, we focused very early on next year’s car, which I hope is a bet that will be a winning one.

“But for sure, it has some influence from the last two thirds of the season where we've been struggling more than others because we didn't bring that many upgrades. But in general, it's just been a generation of car that was very, very difficult to understand.

“And what worked back at the factory – I think everybody has been surprised once or more times that when you bring it on track, it doesn't correlate exactly to what you were expecting from that part. And that was the challenge of it. And yeah, other teams did better, especially McLaren and Red Bull.”