Charles Leclerc’s latest admission proves Ferrari must trust Lewis Hamilton to develop their 2026 car

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Ferrari stopped developing parts of their 2025 Formula 1 car far earlier than some of their rivals, and recent results highlight their lack of evolution.

However, that doesn’t explain why Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had a nightmare weekend in Qatar, while Carlos Sainz secured his second podium of the season in a Williams that hasn’t been a priority all year.

Hamilton was once again eliminated in Q1 and could only recover to 12th in Sunday’s race, while Leclerc had to settle for eighth as it was confirmed that Ferrari would finish fourth in the constructors’ championship with one race to go.

Who is going to win the 2025 Formula 1 drivers’ championship?

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After the race, Hamilton issued a warning to Ferrari about their future if they don’t learn from the experiences of this season.

However, there have been suggestions that some Ferrari staff don’t agree with Hamilton’s recommendations, but Leclerc has now explained exactly why the team must listen to the seven-time world champion if they want to be successful this season.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Charles Leclerc ‘not satisfied’ with 2025 Ferrari performance after the Qatar Grand Prix

Leclerc spoke to Motorsport immediately after the Qatar Grand Prix, and when asked about this season and the upcoming campaign, he explained: ‘It hurts, I’m really sorry.

“I don’t want to create false expectations, but you also have to say what you think. At the beginning of the year, I was convinced that we had done a good job, but the result was that it wasn’t enough.

“We have to do much more to achieve our goals. We are doing a lot, we are working very hard.

“Let’s see how next year goes. This year, we sacrificed the second half of the season to work on next year’s car, so it’s no big surprise that we’re struggling now.

“It is a surprise to be so far behind this weekend, because you can’t explain such a performance by the fact that we’ve started developing the next car. I’m not satisfied, and we need to find answers.”

As Leclerc says, the surprise with how poor Ferrari have been at the end of this year suggests that whatever the team were doing before Hamilton’s arrival wasn’t working.

The 40-year-old is working hard to improve things, and it might be time to take his suggestions more seriously ahead of 2026.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Lewis Hamilton has ‘so many notes’ for Ferrari ahead of next season

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after Sunday’s race, Hamilton said: “It definitely has been the most challenging year both in and out of the car. I’ve got so many notes in terms of things we need to improve on.

“Time will tell whether or not we act on those things and we keep hold of the things that are good and change the things that are not – and there’s plenty of those.

“There’s literally no reason why we couldn’t fix those if we just put those into action. I’m hopeful for us making progress.”

Make one BOLD prediction for the 2025 season finale in Abu Dhabi!

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Hamilton drew comparison to Michael Schumacher after the race in Qatar, but only because he reminded journalists of the seven-time world champion during his final spell in the sport with Mercedes.

The 40-year-old has been part of one of the most dominant eras in F1 history with Mercedes, and won his first title with McLaren in his second season after narrowly missing out during his rookie campaign.

He has all the experience required to lead a team to a championship, but Ferrari have to put their full faith in him, otherwise they risk a repeat of what’s happened this season.