2026 qualifying: Leclerc no longer goes to the limit
Giving your all no longer pays off in qualifying in Formula 1: the new regulations are transforming the way drivers drive. Charles Leclerc did not hide it, commenting on his Saturday to Canal+: “These cars in qualifying are particular, you have to get used to them a bit. The thing that seems to pay off the most is consistency, more than looking for something different. So today I did that. Yesterday in SQ3 I took some corners faster than in SQ2 and this did not bear fruit at the engine level. It is not easy to explain. Today instead between Q1, Q2 and Q3 I was consistent. This makes qualifying a bit strange”.
The Ferrari Monegasque opened the door to modifications: “We will have to examine to understand if we can improve this aspect. We already have some ideas at the regulatory level”. Again Leclerc: “It pays to be within the limit, and to always do the same thing. I’m a bit sorry because it was certainly one of my strengths in the past. Q3 is less exciting, because you can’t push as much as you’d like. Unfortunately you can no longer do a crazy lap in qualifying“.
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Bearman and Stella agree with Leclerc
Even Oliver Bearman of Haas released comments of the same tenor: “In Q3 I went faster in all the corners, but I lost on the straight. Which really hurts, because you see the gap increase”.
Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, asked about the topic explained his interesting point of view: “In qualifying there is some aspect of driving that is counterintuitive for the drivers. For example sometimes it happens that they make a mistake, but in reality they are saving energy to go faster in a subsequent sector. The energy saved by delaying acceleration due to a problem, then becomes a gain at the end of the straight. The discourse goes further: do we want to be faithful to the DNA of racing or do we accept these counterintuitive situations? It is a philosophical question, it is up to F1 and FIA to collect the opinions of everyone and evaluate the overall situation”.
The issue could therefore be addressed by the Federation in the coming weeks, to understand how to make qualifying more faithful to the history of Formula 1.
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