Leclerc reveals 'the confidence is not at the highest' despite Ferrari's hopeful result in Monaco practice
- Caitlyn Gordon
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Formula One heads to the principality for the eighth round of the season, with high expectations lying on Ferrari's shoulders as they enter the weekend as favourites for victory.
Earlier in the week, Ferrari announced a significant contract extension tying Charles Leclerc to the team on a multi-year deal. The 2024 Monaco Grand Prix winner started his weekend off in superb fashion, as he set the pace for the morning session with a 1:13.978.
But the session wasn't plain sailing for the home town hero after he locked up early and ran onto Mirabeau. Despite the setback, he was able to reverse out and set the quickest time.
The session runner-up, Lewis Hamilton, was only two tenths behind his teammate, a promising result for the Scuderia, who are hunting for their first victory in F1 since 2024.
During the afternoon session, Ferrari were once again untouchable, this time with Hamilton leading the session, with the Monagasque a tenth behind his time.
But behind, Max Verstappen lurked behind the two Ferraris in both sessions, with the Dutchman finishing just over a tenth and a half behind the Briton during the afternoon session.
While the results were optimistic, Leclerc explained the SF-26 was experiencing some braking issues, which hindered his session and chipped away at his confidence:
“We’re facing quite a few issues on the brakes on my side, so we’re trying to fix those. The confidence is not at the highest level at the moment." Leclerc said to the media after the session.
“Apart from that, it’s a track I love, and I’m sure that if we manage to fix those [issues] for tomorrow, it will be a good step forward.
"Unfortunately, it’s been since Canada that I’m struggling a little bit on that.“ The Monagasque added.
"We’re trying to find solutions, I hope we do for tomorrow, and if so I don’t doubt that we will do a step forward.”
Leclerc was quizzed about the rapid Red Bull, which was close in pace with the Ferrari and what he thinks of being in the mix for pole on Saturday:
“Max has been very strong, Red Bull have been very strong, and Lewis has been very strong as well.
“At the end of the day, it’s not been a disastrous day. We were very close to Lewis in FP2, so I’m not so worried, but it’s going to be a tough Qualifying. For sure, it’s going to be very tight. If we do a step forward with the brakes, surely it can help us for the fight for pole.”
Lewis Hamilton provides his two cents
On the other side of the garage, Hamilton expressed his delight about the session and while he felt there was more performance to be found from the SF-26, he remains positive.
"It’s been a positive day overall, and the car felt quite good right from the first laps," Hamilton stated to the media.
"The team did a solid job with the changes we made between the two sessions, and we were able to work through our programme without any major issues.
"Monaco is always a very different challenge, with the bumps and the close proximity of the barriers, so it’s not easy to find the right balance and put everything together.
"There is still performance to be found, and tonight we’ll focus on the details, because the margins are very small here and there’s plenty of work to do ahead of qualifying." He concluded.
Saturday will test the drivers around the unforgiving streets of Monaco, with the driver who seals pole in the favourable position due to the lack of overtaking opportunities around the circuit, shaping up an exciting shootout for pole.
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