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Charles Leclerc’s P8 finish at the Austrian Grand Prix summed up just how much he is struggling with the new regulations. David Coulthard has never seen him slump to this form before.
The 2026 regulation changes seem to suit his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton better, while Leclerc is struggling to adapt to the car. The mood was the complete opposite in 2025, with the Monegasque driver dominating the Brit.
Leclerc says the SF-26 is not tailored to Hamilton, but the results and standings show that the seven-time champion has the advantage. He is 46 points clear of his teammate, who suffered another miserable weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix.
What went wrong for Ferrari at the Austrian Grand Prix?
David Coulthard has never seen Charles Leclerc so out of form in his Formula 1 career
Ferrari had a disappointing weekend at Spielberg. Their ADUO engine upgrade did not work, as severe tyre degradation hampered them against Mercedes and even Red Bull.
But even with this, Leclerc was notably off the pace compared to Hamilton. While the 41-year-old enjoyed a brilliant battle with Max Verstappen and finished fifth, his teammate fell backwards, getting overtaken by Isack Hadjar and dropping to eighth.
Race winner George Russell says Leclerc is struggling to understand the SF-26 having seen Hamilton’s resurgence. Coulthard is equally concerned, stating that he has never seen the Monegasque driver be so out of form in his career.
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He said on the Up To Speed podcast: “You see that Lewis was sort of driving that from the cockpit. He said in his interview afterwards the team wanted to do two. I was like, ‘No, we need to do three,’ and that was the best option for him.
“Charles was maybe a little bit more on the fence on that, and then it put him into a sort of No Man’s Land.
“I think actually for me, the story of Ferrari still, overall, it’s positive because they’re back in a sort of competitive space.
What would Lewis Hamilton beating Charles Leclerc at 41 do for his F1 legacy?
“But I think the big question mark there now, and we just have to deal with the data and the facts, is we’re witnessing a slightly off-form Charles Leclerc probably for the first time in his career.
“He’s always been a little bit- crash comes in and qualifying from nowhere because he’s pushing so hard, but otherwise he’s just been a sort of consistently fast driver. I don’t recall him being in this sort of form before.”
Karun Chandhok fired a ‘critical’ warning at Leclerc, telling him to take control of his season or risk losing the internal momentum around the team. Some may believe that has already happened and Hamilton is now leading the Prancing Horse.
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