Charles Leclerc has promised to lift his performance after acknowledging the “incredible” run of Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton across the last three grands prix. The Monégasque driver’s vow comes on the back of a deeply frustrating Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix — a weekend that summed up just how wide the gap between the two Ferrari drivers has grown.
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari form leaves Leclerc 40 points adrift
Hamilton claimed his first win as a Ferrari driver at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, romping home by a commanding 20-second margin. The victory ended Ferrari’s winning drought stretching back to the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, and it followed back-to-back podium finishes for the seven-time world champion in Monaco and Canada. Meanwhile, Leclerc retired from sixth place with just four laps remaining after his brake-by-wire system and power steering failed simultaneously due to a hydraulic issue — a bitter end to a weekend that had already gone wrong when he crashed in qualifying and started from 10th on the grid.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Leclerc was unflinching in his assessment. “Lewis won with an incredible margin — 20 seconds — and he has been incredible in the last three weekends,” he said. “He has been really on it. He deserves all of it, and now it is up to me to up my game, find this confidence with this car and put everything together.” Furthermore, Leclerc pointed to a string of technical problems as a key factor behind his recent struggles, noting that the past four weekends have been far from clean on the reliability front.
Leclerc takes no credit for Hamilton’s Barcelona victory
Midway through the race, Leclerc moved aside to allow Hamilton through as their pit strategies crossed paths. Nevertheless, he was adamant he played no meaningful role in Ferrari’s triumph. “I don’t want to take any credit for today’s race,” he stated. “I don’t think I had a role into it at all. Lewis and the team have done the job and have actually got the win all by themselves. Sure, I could have stayed ahead of Lewis for two or three corners, but that would have been very stupid from me anyway.”
As for the retirement itself, Leclerc described a sudden and alarming loss of control. “I had a BBW fail and no power steering anymore. Turn 2, I was in the corner and then no power steering suddenly, and then that was the end of my race,” he told BBC Sport.
Ultimately, Leclerc now sits 40 points behind Hamilton in the drivers’ standings. The Ferrari number one needs a clean run of weekends — and fast. The talent is not in question. The consistency very much is.
