Charles Leclerc: full faith in Ferrari

0:00This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone. From pushing limits in F1 to engineering the next generation of hybrids like the Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid, Honda proves that racing doesn't just inspire innovation, it drives it. And that idea of taking lessons from the racetrack and applying them to road cars has always been a part of Honda's DNA. Decades of engineering in the demanding world of Formula One have helped shape the performance and efficiency you see in Honda's road cars today.

0:44And now that same thinking is shaping the next generation of hybrids as well. Cars like the 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Hybrid show that electrification can be both efficient and genuinely fun to drive. The 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid are engineered for fun. From the racetrack to your driveway. Learn more about the Prelude and Civic and the latest innovations at Honda.com. Cha-ching! That's the sound of Lowe's Labor Day Savings. Get up to 45 % off select major appliances and save up to an additional$100 on select laundry pairs. Plus, get three bags of Miracle-Gro.75 cubic foot garden soil for just$10.

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2:11Always read and follow label instructions. I feel that when I've had good moments in my career, things are escalating very quickly towards winning the title and everything is positive and too positive. But when things go wrong, it goes the same the other way. So when you jump out of the car and use the word ashamed on our side of the fence, you can sort of see how it spirals, right? Yeah, but I don't fully agree. Oh, but into the wall and out of the race! Charles Leclerc! Everything was negative around me, around the team, and then we get to Silverstone. Charles Leclerc wins the British Grand Prix!

2:56First time never left. Only first people left.

3:02I'll say couldn't come at a better time. Why did Nau feel like the right time to commit? longer term to Ferrari. For me, this is where I belong for now. I don't want to give up on my ultimate goal, which is to become a world champion with Ferrari.

3:27Welcome everybody to this week's F1 Beyond the Grid. And I'm delighted to say we're joined by Charles Leclerc. Charles, how are you? You're looking well. I'm very good, thank you. Yeah, feeling good. Now it's been a couple of years since you were last on the show and I think it's fair to say quite a lot has happened in your life in that time. Would you agree? I do, yes. Whether personal or on track, quite a few things happened since then. Well look, let's start on track. We're going to Monza this week. How mental a week is this one? What is it like to be a Ferrari driver at the Italian Grand Prix?

4:07It's very, very special. Normally a race weekend for us resume itself from the Thursday to the Sunday. Monza is very different because it starts from the Monday with some sponsors activities, Tuesday as well. Wednesday we normally go in Milan for meeting with the Tifosi and this is pure madness and you can feel that it's not a race like any other the feeling going into the weekend is incredible there's so much positivity around the team and so much excitement as well um so the build-up to the race is very very very different i will say that the energy is so positive that you don't actually feel how much it's tiring but i remember the very first um monza i did with the team which i was like it was a pretty good to win i arrived on the sunday night and didn't realize how tired i was but i think the positive energy keeps you energized but but once the pressure is is off after the race then then it's very very tiring is it possible to feel more loved as a racing driver than being a ferrari driver at monza oh i don't think so yeah it's a very very special experience i stay in this hotel close to the track as well where all the tifosi are coming to every night and every morning to sing i remember i've had quite a few years where on the saturday night they will sing like tifosi songs at 11 11 30 so you you go to sleep and you cannot think about anything else other than than racing and racing for ferrari and it's it's very special because you can also feel how much it means to every single person that that come to the to the race and um and it's also probably one of the only races of the calendar where you can feel that within the team there's this kind of it's a it's a positive thing but this kind of adrenaline pressure for that home race because most of their family members will be in the grandstand or will be there to to see them so it means something special, not only for us drivers, but I think for everybody.

6:31You've talked about how special it is. When you think back to 2019 and the win from Paul. Raw casines for the fans. Extraordinary moment for Charles Leclerc because he crosses the line to take the checkered flag and win for Ferrari at Monza. You've done it.

7:05did you appreciate at the time what you just done or had it come almost too early in your career for you to appreciate the magnitude of what you just done I think I realized, but it's not like I thought about it for so long. I remember on the Monday, coming back home, I got stopped by the police on the motorway. And they had this newspaper where I was the first of the newspaper where they wanted me to sign it. And I was like, that's, that's really cool. It was the first time that this will ever happen to me in my life. And then when I stopped making fuel, I went to pay into the shop and there was all this newspaper and I was on the first of many of those.

7:54So there, of course, you realize this is not normal. And it was probably the first time of my life that I will see that. And that was very, very special. But then very quickly, you're always attracted to look ahead and to think about the next one. But it was a very special moment. And there's another layer of sort of history this weekend, isn't there? Because you're running the sort of Michael Schumacher livery from 1996. And I did want to ask you about Michael, right? He's still so loved inside the team. What does Schumacher mean to you? I mean, Michael obviously is very special. I've started watching Formula One when Michael was winning basically everything with Ferrari.

8:42I started dreaming of becoming a Ferrari driver when I was seeing Michael win with them. And so he plays a very important role into making me dream of becoming a Ferrari driver just because he was the iconic driver for so many years with this iconic team. But I think Michael, it's also a generation where it's not so far that people who have worked with him cannot really explain what he was like. So there's very much this feeling inside the team that it was not so long ago. and when you speak to the mechanics engineers that are still in the team for some of them that have worked with him, how special it was to see him, what everything he has brought to the team because back then meetings were not such a thing yet and he arrived with such a discipline.

9:38He was, yes, the most talented but also the most hard worker and structured driver there was And all this structure and discipline, I think, made everyone step up their game after Michael. So he played, obviously, an incredibly important role in Ferrari. But also for me, it was very, very special to see him. I also had the chance to meet him. I was in Paul Ricard and there's a karting track and a Formula One track. And we had no idea that Ferrari would be testing that day. and I had never asked an autograph to anybody else. But that day, I remember hearing the sound of the Formula One engine and we went to the track.

10:26We were lucky enough to be let in and I asked Michael to sign my suit. I still have that picture actually and this was a very, very special moment. What you've just said reminds me of something your former Ferrari boss, Mattia Bonotto, told me, which was he said Michael was a brilliant racing driver obviously but he was an even better leader is what how Matty had described it and that's kind of what you've just implied right oh 100 % I think the leadership of Michael every single person within the team was cheering and was behind Michael for for him to win and that is when Formula One is getting very big and it was already big back then where the the teams is there are many people inside a team and every single person needs to believe in the project needs to believe in the driver needs to be behind the driver and i think michael did that better than anyone else you're going to surpass him next year as ferrari's most races for any driver if you had told me that uh 15 years ago i'll have never believed you, of course.

11:38I mean, Formula One was already a dream that was for me, not unachievable, but very unlikely to achieve. I mean, it's only the top 20 drivers in the world. And my parents were always very honest with me to tell me, okay, we are going to try and do our best to help you, but it's very unlikely that this happens. And on top of that, to become a driver once in your career even for a year or one race will have been incredible um and now to be the driver that or i will be hopefully the driver that will do the most races with ferrari is is very special at the same time now that i'm in the position that i am in now this is not really a stat that i mean at the end the stat that will make me happy is to be the driver who won the most with the team and this is not the case so there's still a lot of work I I felt like we are doing progresses um but it's been many years with the team some very good years some very difficult years I think we we grew a lot all together and um and also me I arrived in the team I was a kid and and now I feel like I have more experience behind me but yeah the fact to have done the most races is maybe not the stat that is the most important for me um i want to be to be winning and uh that's what michael is known for um he's for having done such a difference for for the years he's done with the team how do you see the role of a racing driver in formula one is it more than just what happens in the cockpit of course 100 and i also believe that maybe in ferrari it's even more so that way because there's this i mean ferrari in italy is so important that when you become a ferrari driver obviously people really look up at you and the new people inside the team were looking at me with eyes that you can see how much it means for the people back at the factory sometimes to to speak with you and to to make sure that you create that that relationship is incredibly important.

13:51But I was lucky enough also to join the team so young and to be able to know these people for many, many years. The bond is very, very special. And then to be working with those people for so many years, you get to know them and it's easier to extract the maximum out of every single person. This episode is brought to you by Bitdefender, exclusive cybersecurity partner of Scuderia Ferrari HP. In cybersecurity and Formula One, every millisecond counts. Only the most advanced cars and dedicated teamwork win races on the track, and only the most advanced security technology and elite specialists have the power to prevent, defend, and stop cyber attacks.

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15:10Visit Bitdefender.com to learn more about how Bitdefender supports Ferrari through cybersecurity built on trust and how you can make your digital life safer. This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone. From pushing limits in F1 to engineering the next generation of hybrids like the Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid, Honda proves that racing doesn't just inspire innovation, it drives it. And that idea of taking lessons from the racetrack and applying them to road cars has always been a part of Honda's DNA.

15:57Decades of engineering in the demanding world of Formula One have helped shape the performance and efficiency you see in Honda's road cars today. And now that same thinking is shaping the next generation of hybrids as well. Cars like the 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Hybrid show that electrification can be both efficient and genuinely fun to drive. The 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid are engineered for fun. From the racetrack to your driveway. Learn more about the Prelude and Civic and the latest innovations at Honda.com. kitchen and bathroom professionals know what goes behind the tile matters that's why trade pros trust fiber cement hardy backer board to keep tile firmly in place resist cracking and help block moisture chosen in over 40 million kitchens and bathrooms hardy backer board what the best build on shop now at participating home depot lowe's and floor and decor stores for more information visit jameshardy.com slash hardybacker.

17:13Let's talk about the new deal then, which was announced just before the Monaco Grand Prix this year. Why did now feel like the right time to commit longer term to Ferrari? Well, first of all, because it just felt right. and that sometimes doesn't need more explanation in a way that for me this is where i belong for now and this is where i feel good this is where i am the most motivated to do well just because i love this team so much it's been many years since i've joined in ferrari the formula one team since 2019 but i've been within the ferrari family for even longer i don't want to give up on my ultimate goal, which is to become a world champion with Ferrari.

18:00And I believe in the project. I believe in every single person of the team. I think we are in a year where we've been showing innovation. We are very aggressive also in the production plan and in the upgrades we are bringing, and that gives me lots of hopes for the future. And Fred is a big reason on why I have signed again as well. I believe in Fred in 200%. and we've known each other for many years now and to be able to work with him in the team I've always loved is a privilege. So yeah, for me, I had no doubt that this was the right decision for me. Fred has spoken about the deep bond he has with you.

18:43Clearly, the feeling is mutual, right? Well, of course, yeah. It would be very strange if he had said that it wasn't mutual. But yeah, I mean, it feels like I know Fred since forever. And he's the kind of person that you speak once. And I don't know, I think he's the values. There's just something that was naturally working from the beginning. And you cannot quite explain that. But from the very first talks, it felt like I've known him forever. And so obviously the bond is stronger than just a work business relationship. Is it almost paternal, fatherly almost? Yeah, I think in some kind of ways he reminds me of my father in some aspect of who he is.

19:31And there might be that. Then, of course, you've got to separate as well because sometimes we speak about business and it's about business. We're here to win. But I'll say when things go very well, yeah, the emotions are multiplicated. What do you think your old man would have made of you committing long term to Ferrari? Do you ever seek, I don't know, do you look up to the sky and seek inspiration, wonder what he would be thinking? I mean, I know him by heart. He's been with me since I did my first laps in karting to unfortunately when he left this world. But so I know exactly what he would be thinking.

20:16I think we were very alike in the way we would think. So he would be happy. I mean, my parents did everything to see me and my brothers happy. So whatever made me happy will have made him happy. And so I have little doubt that from up there he's smiling. Given everything you've just said, did you negotiate with other teams? How seriously did you think about a life outside of the red team? For that, I think I'm also lucky to be in the position where I've got my manager and my manager is here to let me know about what are the other opportunities, what's going on around. And so I didn't have any personal talks, but my manager did.

21:05I mean, it's his job to be honest with me and to give me the full picture of what's going on in the paddock and what opportunities we might have. So yes, there were other opportunities. But at the end of the day, we sat down with Ferrari and we made it happen quite quickly. Do you like the paddock politics? Do you like that side of Formula One, navigating the potholes of the paddock? No, I mean, it doesn't really interest me. I try to be just myself and as genuine as I can be. and if that hurts me in any kind of relationships, I won't force things. This is the way I've always been. I've always hated to be the guy that needs to be nice for whatever reason.

21:53This is not me and I will never change. So no, but yeah, I don't feel I have any enemies in the paddock, so it hasn't hurt me. And would you ever be interested in, I don't know, managing younger drivers? I'm thinking of, you know, Max Verstappen recently said he's helping a young Dutch guy, Dries van Langendong. Could we see you take that step one day? One day, 100%. And I spoke about it with my manager, actually, Nicolas, who does this himself, whether it will be interesting to do that together once I'm done. But I don't see it right now. At the moment, I'm 200 % focused on racing and on my driving and on trying to make Ferrari win.

22:39When I'll turn the page, I most likely will stay around to do just that. Okay, look, let's talk about 2026 now. You've ticked off all of the big race wins in your career, right? Already, we're talking Monaco, we're talking Monza, we're talking Spa, and then of course Silverstone came just before the summer break. How important was that win? It was a very important one because it came into a moment of the season where there were lots of negativity around. And when it's like this, it's always more difficult to perform. I think many drivers are trying to hide or deny the fact that you are not affected or that you are completely isolated from the noise around.

23:26But you cannot be. In those very difficult moments, I had no social media on my phone. I didn't want to hear about anything. The only thing I wanted to care about was the performance in the car, am I feeling in the car, trying to improve that. We've had some issues on the car, which we were trying to solve, which we did then. But in that difficult moment, there's a lot of doubts, there are lots of questions raised, and you cannot stay completely isolated to it for the good reason that when you go on the Thursday and you do media day, the questions are not always the positive and nice ones that you'll want to hear there's of course negativity and it's right that it's that way people question and want to understand why there are struggles but as a driver that's the last thing you want to speak of it was tricky to be working in that in that environment but i think we did an incredible job because um it started in canada where it's a track where i always struggle and and and i've been struggling for the for the weekend and then you get to monaco but i had the hope that Monaco has always been a special track for me.

24:33Of course, I'm from there, but it's always been a track where I've been very competitive. And there the feeling was not good at all from FP1 until the race. Then we have this issue in the race, which cost us a DNF. Oh, but into the wall and out of the race! Charles Leclerc from the podium to the wall, and it goes wrong on the restart for the home favourite. I'm not sure I'm going to take the blame. This break. Then you go to Barcelona and you hope for a better weekend. The feeling was much better in Barcelona in FP1. Then I get to Quali and I do this mistake, which was quite a big one. And Charles Leclerc has gone off.

25:18And he was hustling the Ferrari, the updated Ferrari, around the turns. And once again, Charles Leclerc is into the barriers. and on the Sunday we have an issue so we don't score any points so this was like three very very difficult weekends and I feel that when I've had good moments in my career things are escalating very quickly towards winning the title and everything is exponentially positive and too positive but when things go wrong it goes the same the other way and and so so everything was negative around me around the team and again to be working in this environment is difficult and then we get to Silverstone where it's a track that I love but I didn't really know what to expect and on paper actually there was a lot of negativity because Silverstone and Spa was going to be the two most difficult race weekends of the first part of the season so I was like okay my god this is not a great timing for me um and then we go in FP1 and the feeling is as good as in it was in Barcelona in free practices and then things just unfolded quite naturally and then we win the race.

26:29Charles Leclerc wins the British Grand Prix for his ninth career victory in Formula One. Let's go! Finally, it has time never left. Only just people left.

26:50It was surprising for the negativity around me, but also for the negativity around the team for that particular track layout. And I will say it couldn't come at a better time. It felt extremely good because when you've been working for so long to try and turn a situation around, um i mean we're speaking about three races but between races there are gaps and it's at the end it's a month and and a month of struggling is something that that uh is not a good feeling were those three races was that month the hardest month of your career would you say the last struggling moments always feels like the hardest ones for whatever reason because it's where the emotions are still the most raw.

27:40And I mean, I can still remember that moment. But honestly, doing a step back, I don't think so. I don't think so. Surely it's the one that took proportions bigger than others. But I don't even know, actually, if that's right. But, you know, Charles, when you jump out of the car and use the word ashamed to describe something you've just done, i i mean like i appreciate that's heat of the moment but when you use a word like that it just on our side of the fence yeah we report that it it's kind of you can sort of see how it spirals right yeah but i don't fully agree when you do a mistake as a driver you always kind of i mean you're not happy if i put the car in the wall if anybody put the car in the wall they kind of feel shame some kind of way then whether you want to express it or not is another thing and on that i am sometimes too honest on the way i feel on the way i portray my performances and it means that sometimes i get the backlash for saying things that maybe i should have kept for me but but at the same time this is me and again i'm very happy to just stay the person i am and sometimes it will bite me more than I would want and sometimes, and some people will like me for that characteristics and I don't want to force things to think too much about what I'm going to say.

29:12I just want to be myself and at that moment, I just felt that way. I think you and Lewis are very similar like that. Do you remember last year when Lewis was talking after one qualifying, he said the team need to change the driver. you know it's kind of like you two are very very passionate exactly that's that's what i was going to say i think passion is what eventually it comes down to we are all super passionate about what we do and we love so much what we do that it's yeah it's so important for us to be performing and when things don't go well on track um things don't go well as well at home in a way that you come back home and you are you you just want to get back on track and for things on track to go well because it takes a toll on you because you are so passionate and we we live for racing i mean my life can be resumed with racing i started when i was three and a half years old and i'm still racing to this day and i've probably spent more time on a racing track since i'm born than at home so um racing is everything i have and so when it goes well it's incredible but when things go wrong you take it personal in a way tell us about the journey you've been on with this car because at the start of the year i mean let's go back to testing it all went very well we then go to melbourne and you're on the podium where did it go wrong if you like for that bad month was it something you'd done from a setup point of view or was it something else um it was something else i mean formula one it can be sometimes you cannot share absolutely everything uh there are there are things that uh are a bit more secret but let's say that uh that from montreal to um montreal and monaco were probably the two ones that there was something that was extremely difficult to deal with on the car.

31:10And then for Barcelona, it was better. And Barcelona, of course, I mean, in qualifying, I have no excuses. That's just me pushing the limit too much and too far. But I will say there are these two races that have been particularly difficult. This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone. From pushing limits in F1 to engineering the next generation of hybrids like the Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid, Honda proves that racing doesn't just inspire innovation, it drives it.

31:55And that idea of taking lessons from the racetrack and applying them to road cars has always been a part of Honda's DNA. Decades of engineering in the demanding world of Formula One have helped shape the performance and efficiency you see in Honda's road cars today. And now that same thinking is shaping the next generation of hybrids as well. Cars like the 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Hybrid show that electrification can be both efficient and genuinely fun to drive. The 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid are engineered for fun. From the racetrack to your driveway. Learn more about the Prelude and Civic and the latest innovations at Honda.com.

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33:19you were quite secretive at silverstone about what you'd found on the car overnight friday night you're not about to open up now i guess but can you just tell us was it a setup thing or was it a driving technique? No, so that's the thing. When things don't go well, like it did in Montreal and Monaco, where it's not only about the results. Like in Barcelona, of course I was disappointed, but the feeling was there. So when the feeling is there, you are a lot more confident as a driver. But Montreal and Monaco, the feeling was really not there. Like whatever the result I will have done on the Sunday, I didn't really care about this.

34:00What's important for me is that when I get into the car, I get the right feeling. And I know that I can do my job properly by driving just naturally and not overthinking things. And so when you've got two races consecutive where things are getting tough and you don't have the feeling, you've got two options really. One is to try and find a way around with the setup and with the car and trying to fit your natural driving style more. The other is just change your driving style. And in my case, I have Lewis as a teammate who was having an incredible form and who is on an incredible form. So I knew that his driving style was working.

34:40Surely it was working. So I still had that option on trying and I push on the world trying because it's always difficult to try and reproduce a driving style. It's not as easy as, oh, Lewis is doing that. I'll just do the same. Lewis is an incredibly talented driver and has a natural driving style that is his and he's the best in the world for for that particular driving style and so to reproduce that is very tricky so i i tried to push more into trying to find ways to have this car a bit more fitted to my driving style and i found a few things in the data that was just not working and again in form one it's not always black and white it's not like you sit in front of your computer look at the data and say oh this is one tenth and a half of a second let's change that and we'll gain one thousand it's not as easy as that it's intuition it's feeling it's things that you might think okay this is what makes me a bit less comfortable in the car and if i improve that feeling then performance will come and and so i saw two three things on the on the friday night in Silverstone changed those for the for the Saturday in qualifying and the feeling was a lot better and even better than it was in Barcelona and and from that moment I felt it went towards the right direction more back to how it was at the start of the season or had the car changed too much to get that same feeling as you had in Melbourne for example the car is constantly changing so it's it's not like i can really go back to that feeling i had in in in melbourne so it's evolving but my goal is to get into the car and not overthink when you overthink you know that you are losing time on the table because our sport is not a lot about reacting on what's happening on the car it's more about anticipating and filling the car yours i mean getting into a corner i need to know exactly the way the car will behave so I don't have to overthink about things.