Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari has one important strength it can exploit during Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix Sprint weekend: the ability to arrive at the circuit with a well-balanced car from the very first laps. However, the Monegasque has also delivered a clear warning ahead of a weekend featuring just one free-practice session, admitting that the SF-26 still lacks the outright performance of its main rivals.
Ferrari has often produced a familiar pattern this season: starting strongly before fading when the decisive sessions arrive. That is the picture Charles Leclerc painted ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, where the challenge will be made even more complicated by the debut of the Sprint format at Marina Bay. The circuit is already extremely narrow, with walls only centimetres away, intense heat and high humidity, while teams will now have just one free-practice session to prepare their cars.
Charles Leclerc sees an advantage for Ferrari in Singapore’s single FP1
During Thursday’s media activities, Charles Leclerc was asked whether having only one FP1 session could actually benefit an SF-26 that has often appeared at its best on Fridays. The Ferrari driver played down that interpretation.
“I don’t know if we are necessarily that strong on Fridays. I mean, we are, but I think it mainly depends on the engine mappings the others use. As soon as qualifying starts, they have something extra that we currently lack. So I expect the same thing to happen here. In FP1 we could be slightly more competitive than our rivals, but they have an ace up their sleeve for qualifying that we don’t have at the moment.”
That relative advantage may still exist, however, and Charles Leclerc believes it comes from one of Ferrari’s structural strengths: its ability to start a weekend with the car already in a good operating window. That could become particularly valuable during the first Singapore Sprint weekend, when there will be almost no time to recover from a poor initial set-up.
“However, one of our strengths as a team is having a well-balanced car immediately, and that is certainly something we can use to our advantage during a Sprint Race. It remains to be seen whether that will be enough to win. The outright performance of the car has been rather disappointing lately compared with the competition. So we’ll see where we are after FP1.”
The Marina Bay Street Circuit could at least give Ferrari an opportunity to maximise the qualities it already possesses. The team heads into the weekend believing that Singapore could suit several strengths of the SF-26, although Charles Leclerc’s comments make clear that a favourable circuit profile does not automatically eliminate Ferrari’s underlying performance deficit.
Why Ferrari can arrive with a well-balanced SF-26
Charles Leclerc then explained where this characteristic comes from, describing something that is simultaneously a strength for Ferrari and an indication of the car’s limitations.
“Over the last few weeks, the correlation between the simulator and the track has been excellent. That allows us to work at the factory and arrive in the paddock with a balanced car that I immediately feel comfortable with. It is all about preparation. It is not a question of having the wrong set-up: the outright performance of the car is not currently at the level of the best, and making the balance more extreme would not allow us to gain even one thousandth more. We simply lack a little outright performance.”
The work carried out at Maranello has therefore helped protect Ferrari from unpleasant set-up surprises, but it cannot by itself close the gap to the fastest cars. The focus consequently shifts from correcting the car during an individual race weekend towards improving its fundamental performance through development.
That distinction will be particularly important at Marina Bay because Ferrari is also bringing a circuit-specific aerodynamic approach, including a high-downforce rear-wing solution for the SF-26. A strong baseline should allow the team to spend its limited FP1 running refining details rather than trying to rescue an initially unbalanced car.
Singapore heat remains one of Formula 1’s toughest physical tests
From a physical perspective, Singapore remains one of the most exhausting races on the Formula 1 calendar. Some relief now comes from the cooling vests introduced recently, although Charles Leclerc believes there is still considerable room for improvement.
“If I could have an even more effective cooling vest, I would ask for it immediately,” Charles Leclerc said.
He added: “It works well for 15 or 20 laps, then the temperature rises exactly as if you weren’t wearing it, but I’m still grateful for those first 20 laps of relief. All the drivers on the grid are fit enough to finish the race, but maintaining 100% of your efficiency at the end, when you are completely dehydrated, is really tough. You always end up losing something along the way.”
The combination of restricted preparation time and extreme physical conditions therefore adds another variable to a weekend that already leaves little margin for error. Lewis Hamilton has also discussed the unusual challenge facing Ferrari as Marina Bay prepares for its first Sprint event.
Charles Leclerc questions the idea of two Monaco races
Charles Leclerc also looked further ahead to what Formula 1 could face in Monte Carlo next season, where the Sprint format could be repeated. In that sense, Singapore will also act as something of a dress rehearsal because both circuits leave drivers little room for mistakes while putting an even greater premium on preparation when practice time is restricted.
The Ferrari driver sees merit in part of the Sprint format, but he is less convinced about the prospect of holding two races in Monaco.
“The idea of two qualifying sessions is great, but I don’t know how good the idea of having two races in Monte Carlo is.”
Charles Leclerc concluded: “It will be an extremely complicated weekend, perhaps even more than this one, with only one free-practice session. But for now, let’s think about Singapore: one step at a time.”
For Ferrari, that first step will be making the most of the preparation work completed before arriving at Marina Bay. Charles Leclerc’s assessment suggests the team should be able to begin the weekend with a predictable and well-balanced SF-26, but the decisive question remains whether that preparation can compensate for the outright performance Ferrari has recently been missing when its rivals turn up their engines and attack qualifying.
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