https://autoracer.it/leclerc-spero-di-a ... alla-fine/
Leclerc on the updates -
Broadening the view to Ferrari's season performance, Leclerc hopes that the updates introduced in Austria and those expected in the coming weeks will help provide a turning point: "*The first part of the season was much harder than we expected. I think when you finish fighting for victory as we did last year, fighting for the Constructors' World Championship, you restart hoping to at least start in the same position. We struggled more, but now we are finding our way again with development. It has certainly helped us take steps forward. I know that there are other updates coming, which will help us close the gap with McLaren and Red Bull. Mercedes seems to have a more up-and-down performance. But it's up to us to do a better job than the others and try to reach those ahead."
The Monégasque has great confidence in the updates that Ferrari will introduce on the SF-25, even though he admits that McLaren's superiority is too great to think of being able to completely nullify it: "*We will try to introduce updates as soon as possible to correct some of our weak points. I am sure we will close the gap to McLaren, even if not completely. It's a significant advantage and doesn't depend on a single update or one part of the car. I believe it takes a multitude of updates to reach their level. But if we are at least close enough to put them under pressure, I hope we can force them to make some more mistakes, because at the moment they have too big a margin to exert any kind of pressure."
To put pressure on McLaren would also require a competitive SF-25 on Saturday's single lap, the real Achilles' heel of this car. Recalling Fred Vasseur's words from the beginning of the year, who had spoken of a "qualifying championship" for the importance of Saturday's result, Leclerc commented: "It's a real shame because we are very slow in qualifying. I wish it were the opposite, but I also think that McLaren makes it seem so because they are very often on pole position and are the fastest car with a wide margin on most tracks. So they end up winning on Sunday too. Fred is certainly right. The numbers say so. I just hope, looking at ourselves, that we will improve our qualifying to be a bit more in contention for victory."
Leclerc on the 2026 car
Leclerc stated: "I can definitely say that the reasons why we took a step back in 2023 and this year are not at all related. I had the feeling that we have learned from our mistakes. I just hope that at some point we will be able to build a strong car from the beginning and have a very strong season from start to finish, which has not happened so far. But yes, we are working in the right direction. I just hope we won't find another problem in a few months. Especially with these cars, I think it's not just us in this situation, but many teams find themselves in this situation where it's very difficult to navigate because you always tend to find another obstacle along the development line."
The reference to the new cars allowed Leclerc to return to his evaluations expressed at the Red Bull Ring and incorrectly interpreted by some media as an admission of the difficulties of Ferrari's new project: "The 2026 car is so different that I certainly don't get confused about which car I'm driving (in the simulator, ed.). To contextualize my comments, they were not specific to our team, I saw headlines saying that we are in trouble or something else. I just wanted to say that the new direction for us drivers is a bit less attractive and a bit less pleasant to drive in general. I find motivation in the challenge of making these new regulations as fast as possible. If we are competitive, I'm sure I'll start to appreciate them much more. Otherwise, I'll probably hate them a lot. But I hope that won't be the case.""
https://www.formulapassion.it/f1/f1-new ... te-mio-dna
Lewis on the 2026 car -
The Ferrari that will come
For this year Hamilton will adapt to the balance most suitable for the SF-25, but for the future he wants to contribute to creating a car more aligned with his preferences. Lewis is aware that the setup is something complementary to the basic philosophy of the project, capable of emphasizing or dampening certain characteristics, but without being able to dampen them completely. "It's a difficult balance to drive with, it's not one that puts you at ease and I don't want it for the future," the Englishman comments.
Hamilton is therefore dialoguing with the engineers at Maranello to act upstream of the problem, reviewing the fundamental concept of the Prancing Horse's cars. The Stevenage driver interfaces mainly with technical director Loic Serra, who had already had the opportunity to know Lewis's preferences in his previous experience at Mercedes as head of vehicle dynamics. "I'm working with Loic and with all the guys in the factory to make sure that the next car naturally has a bit of my DNA inside it" Hamilton explains. "We hope to be able to get some of the characteristics I would like for next year.
