Charles Leclerc has acknowledged that the Zandvoort circuit is not, traditionally, one that suits Ferrari, but expects a “reshuffle” of the pack that could deliver him success.
The Monegasque driver had a torrid weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix last year, retiring after being punted into the wall by Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Turn 3.
It was an incident in a catalogue of nightmarish moments for both the Monegasque and the Italian, as Ferrari’s season was one as tricky as Antonelli’s in what was his maiden season in F1.
12 months on, and Antonelli has completed a sensational turnaround to lead the Drivers’ Championship, with Ferrari also on the up, with Leclerc having taken a first win in nearly two years in Britain.
The new regulations cycle has no doubt been crucial to the order changing this season, and Ferrari has benefitted, with its SF-26 chassis’ strength compensating for some comparative engine deficits to Mercedes and Red Bull.
And that gives Leclerc confidence that the Scuderia can, for once, put up a decent performance at what will be Zandvoort’s final race in F1, for the time being, at least.
“I mean it’s true, historically it’s not been a particularly strong track for us,” he told media, including Motorsport Week. “At the same time these cars are so different that I think it can reshuffle a little bit the packing order or the teams that had more easiness on this kind of tracks and at the same time it’s also a track layout that is quite technical and normally technical tracks are a bit more positive for us this year.
“So I’m still optimistic but we’ve got to wait and see. But I think we also had a good understanding on why we were struggling in the past here with the previous generations of cars. I tend to think that we won’t have those same issues this year and I hope I’m right.”
Charles Leclerc expecting ‘quite a tricky’ race with rain on the way
The weather forecast for this weekend is currently rather ominous, with rain looking extremely likely, which will be the first true wet-weather test for the ’26 cars.
Asked by Motorsport Week if he feels this could give Ferrari a greater advantage around Zandvoort, or whether it could prove to be a big leveller across the field, Leclerc is ready to expect anything.
“Well, to be fair I don’t know,” he said. “I have no idea because, with these cars, the last time I kind of drove in the wet was in Barcelona testing, where there was only Max [Verstappen] and myself on track I think.
“That was basically one of the first times I drove this new generation of car. Since then, there was lots of upgrades on the car.It’s a very different car. We understood a lot more about the car since then but I expect a very tricky weekend because it’s a very difficult track.”
Leclerc concluded: “It’s a Sprint weekend, there’s some rain around. After three weeks of holidays, it’s going to be quite tricky! But I’m looking forward to it.
“Whether it’s an advantage or not for us, we know that we have a strong car in the corners but in the wet it’s very different so we’ll have to see.”
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