Charles Leclerc reveals he stuck to his own setup path at Silverstone over copying Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc opens up on Ferrari setup breakthrough after Silverstone qualifying.

Charles Leclerc secured another front-row start for Ferrari at Silverstone after making significant progress with the SF-26, revealing that he faced a crucial decision in recent weeks: whether to adapt his driving style to match Lewis Hamilton’s or continue refining the car around his own strengths.

Another front-row start for Charles Leclerc

Just as he did at the Austrian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari number 16 on the front row after qualifying second for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Monegasque driver showed a clear improvement during Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session after making several setup changes to his SF-26. Following the Sprint race, Charles Leclerc had described those modifications as “radical,” although he later downplayed their significance when asked about them during the post-qualifying press conference.

“I’m not going to talk about them,” Charles Leclerc said. “But honestly, they’re not as significant as people think.”

The decision that changed Leclerc’s approach

Charles Leclerc went on to explain that he had recently been weighing up two different paths as he searched for answers to the handling issues that had affected his performances.

“Recently, I considered two different approaches. One option was to completely change my driving style and try to reproduce what Lewis is doing, because clearly it’s working. The other was to keep insisting on my own approach and try to find a solution that would allow the car to suit my driving style a little better.”

Ultimately, the Ferrari driver decided to remain faithful to the philosophy that had brought him success in the past rather than attempting to imitate his teammate.

“I chose the second option: to stick with what I know has worked in the past and find a way to adapt the car, using every tool I have available inside the cockpit. And that’s exactly what we did.”

Charles Leclerc’s decision paid off immediately, as the revised setup restored much of the confidence he had been missing in recent race weekends and allowed him to secure another front-row start, putting Ferrari in a strong position ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix.