Ferrari’s latest update has now helped ‘dynamic’ Charles Leclerc unlock his best F1 attribute

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Charles Leclerc has been the better of Ferrari’s two Formula 1 drivers this season despite their car’s struggles.

In fact, Leclerc is currently on a hot run of form, having managed four podiums in his last six races. Something with the SF25 has begun to click.

It helps that Ferrari have not given up on the season as early as they could have, realising that they have a big fight on their hands.

It’s either them or Mercedes for second place in the constructors’ championship, and the extra prize money could end up making a big difference.

Leclerc might have created another setback for Hamilton by being so fast lately. Ralf Schumacher predicts that his team will listen to him more.

After being asked a question about documents his teammate has prepared for Ferrari, Leclerc had to hold back laughter. He thinks it’s a normal thing, and nothing to make a big deal out of.

READ MORE: Why Charles Leclerc rebuked his Ferrari race engineer even before the Belgian Grand Prix started

Ferrari’s latest update has helped ‘dynamic’ Charles Leclerc to unlock his qualifying pace

Leclerc was prepared for ‘extreme’ risks at Ferrari and new upgrades brought to the car at the Belgian Grand Prix helped to propel him to new heights. He rediscovered some of his qualifying confidence.

It’s something that Martin Brundle complimented last year, telling Sky Sports News that he was the ‘fastest’ Formula 1 driver on a Saturday.

“Leclerc I think is potentially, on an outright qualifying lap, the fastest driver out there at the moment, even including Max Verstappen,” he said, in February 2024.

“He’s blindingly fast, tends to run into a few things he didn’t ought to from time to time and fly off the road, Charles, because he just drives so near the limit.”

Aside from knowing how quick he can be, The Race now reports that Leclerc ‘feels’ more confident in his car with new upgrades, allowing him to push more in qualifying and unlock more ‘spark’.

“Perhaps most encouraging for Leclerc was that he felt confident in the car and able to push in something closer to his usual dynamic style in qualifying,” said Ben Anderson.

“At Silverstone, he lamented what he characterised as ‘not doing the job’ in qualifying this year in general. But he now feels that this new version of the Ferrari allows him to be more consistent.

“And it’s that previous lack of consistency, the difficulty he was having in dancing the car right on the edge, that meant his usual qualifying performances prior to Spa, had lacked the great spark he’s usually associated with producing.”

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton needed ‘two days’ to understand something Charles Leclerc got ‘immediately’ at Belgian Grand Prix

Why Ferrari should be a lot stronger in the second half of the 2025 Formula 1 season

With their recent parts, Ferrari managed to close the gap to McLaren to just three tenths in qualifying at Spa. On the sport longest circuit, that’s no mean feat.

Looking at upcoming tracks such as the Hungaroring, Zandvoort, and Monza, there should be even better opportunities to compete at the front arriving soon.

Leclerc will be delighted with what Hamilton said after the Briton praised his younger colleagues’ impressive recent performances.

If he can continue to build momentum, then he stands a good chance of challenging Max Verstappen for third in the drivers’ standings by the end of the season.

Beyond that, ‘sources close’ to Ferrari say they’ve taken a bold 2026 gamble which could pay off handsomely for them. They want to be champions again.