‘We did the right thing’ – Charles Leclerc reflects on Ferrari’s strategy in 2026 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari “did the right thing” with their strategy decisions during the Spanish Grand Prix, as the Monegasque driver was left out front for much of the race.

Leclerc led 32 of the 57 laps during Formula 1’s first visit to the Madring, with Ferrari hopeful that a late-race Safety Car might give their driver a shot at the podium.

But with none forthcoming and George Russell closing to within Leclerc’s pit window, Ferrari made the call to pit him on Lap 48 as Leclerc eventually reached the chequered flag in P4.

“I think we did the right thing honestly. If I had to do the race again I would re-do exactly the same thing in terms of strategy,” said Leclerc.

“Starting on the soft and doing a soft-hard would have brought me to P4 anyway. Doing a hard-soft, I was just hoping for a Safety Car at the right moment for us at the end, but that never really happened.

“A bit of a shame but at the end we were relying on a bit of the luck and we didn’t have it.”

Sunday’s Grands Prix proved to be a tough outing for Ferrari, as Lewis Hamilton retired as early as Lap 7 with a brake problem.

Hamilton and Leclerc started P4 and P5 respectively after qualifying less than two tenths behind polesitter Lando Norris, but having lacked the outright pace to ultimately start any higher.

Leclerc believes that poor Qualifying performances are putting the Scuderia on the back foot when it comes to Sunday, especially at tracks such as the Hungaroring, Zandvoort and Madring where overtaking is difficult.

“I feel like we are losing the results we want on the Sunday because of a lack of performance on the Saturday. This is where we should focus,” he said.

“We need to do a step on the Saturday, especially in Qualifying as we seem to be on the back foot compared to our competitors. Then in the race we are strong but not enough to overtake on track.”