Charles Leclerc has revealed his discontent with the impact of the new Formula 1 regulations on the qualifying spectacle in 2026.
Leclerc and Ferrari are enjoying a positive start to 2026, comfortably the second quickest car on the grid behind the all-conquering Mercedes.
The Scuderia has adapted well to the new technical regulations, a smaller turbo than rivals coupled with a strong battery allowing Ferrari to remain in contention at the front of the field.
Concerns continue to rage both within the paddock and beyond at the impact of the new rules on the racing spectacle, with concerns growing over artificial on-track action.
But Leclerc dismissed those particular claims, believing knowledge gained by the teams is leading greater understanding of battery deployment.
“I enjoy it, and it doesn’t feel so artificial from inside the car,” Leclerc said to media, including Motorsport Week.
“Of course, you’ve got those overtakes where it’s artificial whenever someone is doing a mistake with a battery and completely drains it, and then there’s a massive speed difference.
“But I feel like we are all converging a little bit towards knowing where we shouldn’t go and where can we try and take the risk, and so that creates very interesting overtaking places.”
Qualifying magic missing for Charles Leclerc?
The Chinese GP featured overtakes in a multitude of places, as drivers, including Leclerc gained confidence in their driveability.
But the Monegasque revealed his major concern over the new cars, hinting that the the current spectacle is not in the style Formula 1 should be.
“Today was showing the smaller, lighter cars as well, a bit more agile, also a little bit easier to go around the outside. It’s not those super high downforce cars that we used to have in the past.
“However, there are some things that we, of course, need to look at to make it a little bit more Formula 1 like in qualifying, because I feel like there’s something that we miss still, but I know if we work on it, hopefully we’ll find a solution for that.”
Leclerc’s comments indicate that qualifying has been impacted by the new rules, super clipping having the unintended consequence on push laps.
Suzuka is a vastly different circuit to Shanghai, with sweeping technical sections that could expose the severe battery deployment issues and yet further impact the qualifying spectacle.
READ MORE: Ferrari targets energy gains and balance reset ahead of Japanese GP
Discussion about this post