Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc Ignores Lewis Hamilton: “I Went My Own Way”
Charles Leclerc secured the front row for the British Grand Prix, finishing behind Kimi Antonelli in qualifying at Silverstone but ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s other Ferrari. A setup change on Saturday afternoon proved decisive, with the Monegasque driver candidly admitting at the end of the day that he had chosen not to follow his teammate’s advice.
“Lately, there have been two approaches I’ve had to consider,” Leclerc explained to ‘Sky Sport’. “With one, I would have had to completely change my driving style and try to do what Hamilton does. Because it’s pretty clear that, in general, it’s working. But I could also stick to my own path, trying to find a solution to adapt the Ferrari to my driving style. In the end, I decided on the second option. I know what has worked in the past, and I’ve used every tool available to adapt the car to my style.”
The choice proved successful, at least in terms of qualifying, with Leclerc making up ground compared to Friday. In Sprint qualifying, the Monegasque driver was more than three-tenths of a second behind Hamilton, openly admitting his difficulties with the SF-26: “For a while now, I’ve realized I don’t have the same ease I had in 2025 with last year’s car. Even when I push to the limit and put it all together, we’re talking about tenths: Lewis is more often able to exploit 100% of the car’s potential.” These words seem at odds with the second-place grid position he secured that afternoon, but they highlight an underlying fragility that the driver from the Principality is trying to overcome race after race.
Pole position went to Antonelli with a time of 1 minute, 28 seconds, and 111 thousandths, 175 thousandths ahead of Leclerc and 347 thousandths ahead of Hamilton. A historic result: it had been since 1953 that an Italian driver had started from the front of the grid at Silverstone, when Alberto Ascari achieved the feat. George Russell had to settle for the second row, a result that carries weight in the title race: the Mercedes driver trails his teammate by 43 points in the overall standings.
Despite the all-red front row, Hamilton chose to keep a low profile ahead of Sunday’s race. “I don’t want to come across as pessimistic, but the Mercedes are much faster than us,” commented the seven-time world champion. “Even if we at Ferrari manage to keep up with them in the very first laps, they’ll pull away over the course of the race. Compared to yesterday, it seems to me that we’ve taken a step backward; I don’t feel the car quite right anymore, especially in terms of balance. The rear end tends to slide out, and we’re not perfect under braking either.” Pre-race tactics or genuine concern? The answer will come from the track on Sunday afternoon.
The Silverstone weekend was also the scene of a heated exchange between the leaders of the two teams. Toto Wolff had openly attacked Ferrari, raising doubts about whether the updates brought by the Scuderia were compatible with the budget cap limits: “We’re a bit surprised that Ferrari is able to introduce such substantial updates. In my opinion, they’ll run out of money soon. We can’t do that; we don’t have enough leeway under the spending cap.” A dig that Ferrari team principal Vasseur fired right back without mincing words: “When Red Bull or Mercedes develop something, they’re geniuses. When we do it, we’re cheating. I think we need to calm down a bit on this point.”
In the background, Antonelli’s increasingly clear dominance in the championship. The Bologna native, who had already secured victory in Saturday’s Sprint race with a spectacular pass on Hamilton at the start of the Hangar Straight on lap nine, leads the standings with 179 points—43 points ahead of Russell and 47 ahead of Hamilton. A lead built with growing authority, and one that could widen even further on Sunday on a track that seems tailor-made for his Mercedes.
