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Ferrari worked out exactly why Charles Leclerc was struggling before his victory at the British Grand Prix, Martin Brundle says.
Leclerc bagged his first victory since the 2024 United States GP after one of his toughest spells as an F1 driver.
The Monegasque had only scored four points in the last three races, partly due to a mechanical failure in Barcelona, but was making errors and consistently lagging behind teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Charles Leclerc wins the British Grand Prix! Was he lucky, or was it fully deserved?
Ferrari say Charles Leclerc’s ‘gung-ho’ style doesn’t suit 2026 F1 regulations
After trailing Hamilton again in the Sprint portion of the Silverstone weekend, Leclerc made a ‘philosophical’ change to his Ferrari car – one that he hasn’t yet explained.
He then outpaced his teammate in qualifying as the Ferraris qualified second and third behind Kimi Antonelli. That became a one-two on the opening lap as they swallowed the Mercedes driver up, a familiar sight this year.
It looked as if Antonelli’s superior pace and fresher tyres would tell as he hunted down Leclerc in the final laps until part of his Mercedes car broke, ruining his race.
Leclerc wasn’t quite home free yet as Max Verstappen’s DNF triggered a late safety car, but there wasn’t time to restart the race and he trundled over the line for one of his most satisfying victories.
“We have a briefing on a race day, Crofty and I, with Ferrari, and we asked that question,” Brundle said on Sky Sports F1 (05/07, 13:45).
What are your thoughts on the British Grand Prix ending behind the safety car?
“Basically, Charles just lives on his wits, loves to throw a car in, sort it out. Now you have to be so much more controlled on the power, how you deploy the power.
“Spin the wheels, you waste the battery power and it will hurt you at the end of the straight.
“Charles is having to almost relearn how to drive these cars, because his normal style is more gung-ho than that.”
Last year, the opposite was true, with Hamilton clearly uncomfortable in the ground-effect cars.
George Russell, another driver who has unexpectedly struggled, said Leclerc hadn’t ‘forgotten to drive’, but simply needed to understand the new generation of cars.
Leclerc is optimistic he can carry this form into upcoming races, which will force Hamilton to raise his level further if he’s to maintain his superiority at Ferrari.
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