Why Charles Leclerc looks back to his best: Jenson Button and Martin Brundle share their view. Charles Leclerc's qualifying form returns after Ferrari reset, says Jenson Button.

Jenson Button believes Charles Leclerc has rediscovered his confidence after recent setbacks

Charles Leclerc’s return to the front of the Formula 1 grid has not gone unnoticed. After several difficult weekends and costly qualifying mistakes, the Ferrari driver appears to have found his rhythm once again, prompting Sky Sports F1 analysts Jenson Button and Martin Brundle to explain what has changed.

Leclerc has consistently demonstrated the raw speed to challenge for pole position throughout the 2026 season, but a series of incidents and missed opportunities prevented him from converting that pace into the results many expected. Ahead of the British Grand Prix, however, the seven-time Grand Prix winner once again looked capable of fighting at the very front, suggesting that Ferrari’s number 16 may finally have turned a corner.

Jenson Button points to Monaco as the turning point

Former Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button believes Charles Leclerc’s struggles were never about outright speed. Instead, he argued that a combination of setbacks and overdriving gradually affected the Ferrari driver’s confidence.

“A lot of it [the problems] comes from Monaco onwards. He’s had the pace from the start of the year.  He was unbelievably quick in Monaco until he put it in the wall at Tabac. He also put it in the wall in Barcelona in qualifying. So he’s not had an easy run of it, he was maybe over driving a bit, so he’s had to take a bit of a reset and try to work out what works with these cars and what doesn’t.

“He was really good to see him fighting for that pole position.”

Button’s assessment suggests that Leclerc’s recent improvement has come through adapting both mentally and technically, rather than simply benefiting from changes to the Ferrari SF-26. Finding the right balance between extracting maximum performance and avoiding unnecessary risks appears to have been a crucial step in his recovery.

Martin Brundle: Charles Leclerc is adapting his natural driving style

Martin Brundle echoed Button’s view, adding that Charles Leclerc has effectively been forced to rethink the aggressive driving style that has defined much of his Formula 1 career: “Charles is having to almost relearn how to drive these cars because his normal style is normally more gung-ho than that.”

Modern Formula 1 machinery often rewards precision and tyre management over outright aggression, particularly under the current technical regulations. According to Brundle, that has required the 28-year-old to evolve behind the wheel, learning to extract lap time in a different way than he has in previous seasons.

If Silverstone is any indication, those adjustments are beginning to pay off. With Ferrari showing encouraging one-lap pace and Charles Leclerc looking increasingly comfortable in the SF-26, the Monegasque appears to have rebuilt the confidence that briefly seemed to desert him during the middle part of the campaign. Should that progress continue over the coming races, Ferrari could once again count on Leclerc as a regular contender for pole positions and race victories.