How a 'philosophical' change sparked Leclerc's Silverstone turnaround

The Monegasque returned to winning ways after a drought of almost two years, during which he watched his teammates, first Carlos Sainz and then Lewis Hamilton, claim victory while he was left waiting. That finally changed at Silverstone, where he was helped by the problems suffered by Kimi Antonelli as he climbed back onto the top step of the podium.

Speaking after the race, Leclerc explained that the changes were based on small details that better suited his driving style through a particular phase of the corner. He said the adjustments came after reviewing Friday's data, which suggested certain aspects of the car did not match the way he naturally likes to drive.

He added that Ferrari made those adjustments between the Sprint and qualifying, which immediately improved the car's behaviour. He said identifying the solution was far from straightforward, as it required intuition and driver feeling rather than relying solely on the data,

The Monegasque said winning at Silverstone was an incredible feeling after a series of difficult weekends, explaining that Ferrari's efforts to restore the balance and confidence he was looking for in the car had finally paid off. He revealed that he began to notice a positive change after the Sprint, but stressed that it still had to be confirmed over a full Grand Prix distance. According to Leclerc, Sunday's race proved that the feeling with the car had returned, leaving him delighted with both the result and the progress Ferrari had made.

The Ferrari driver looked back on the recent races that made the victory even more satisfying. He recalled that after Monaco the confidence in the car was no longer there, before crashing in qualifying and then retiring from the race because of a technical issue. In Barcelona, he again felt competitive but suffered another qualifying crash, while another problem affected him during the Grand Prix.

He also reflected on the closing stages of the race, admitting that keeping the lead would have been far from straightforward if Antonelli had remained in contention. He said the Mercedes driver was closing the gap quickly before running into problems of his own, which gave him a more comfortable advantage.