Charles Leclerc has poured cold water on suggestions that Lewis Hamilton’s breakthrough performance in Montreal last time out was triggered by stepping away from Ferrari’s simulator, insisting the answer lies elsewhere.
Hamilton enjoyed his strongest Sunday yet in Ferrari colours at the Canadian Grand Prix, finishing second and comfortably outperforming his teammate.
The result came after the seven-time world champion revealed that he had deliberately stopped using Ferrari’s simulator before the race weekend, believing the virtual setup direction was not translating effectively to the real-world SF-26.
That admission inevitably sparked speculation that Hamilton had uncovered something Leclerc had not.
Leclerc rejects setup theory
The Monegasque, however, was having none of it.
After enduring what he described as one of the most difficult weekends of his Formula 1 career and finishing fourth, more than 30 seconds adrift of Hamilton, Leclerc dismissed the idea that setup choices were responsible for the gap between the Ferrari drivers.
©Ferrari
“There’s none of the performance we are seeing today down to a setup,” Leclerc countered. “A setup is, you can say, there’s a tenth in a setup, but at the end of the day, it’s not that much.
“I think in Formula 1 now we are speaking about such small details. So, no. No, no, no. It’s more about my feeling and just the way I drove today.”
A matter of confidence
Instead, Leclerc pointed the finger squarely at himself, explaining that a lack of confidence behind the wheel prevented him from extracting the car’s full potential around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and rising to his teammate’s level.
“Not having the feeling, you don’t push a car to its limits, and I can feel I’m completely off the pace,” he explained.
“It’s not like I’m pushing, and then you can say, ‘Okay, the setup is not exactly where you want to be.’ By not having confidence on a day like this, I just didn’t push enough.”
Hamilton’s resurgence has nevertheless tightened the intra-team battle. While Leclerc has largely held the upper hand since the Briton arrived at Ferrari, his advantage in the 2026 drivers’ standings has now been cut to just three points heading into his home race in Monaco.
And while Montreal reignited questions about Ferrari’s simulator programme, Leclerc’s verdict was clear: the difference was not in the machine, but in the driver’s confidence.
Read also: Hamilton's Montreal pace ‘got inside Leclerc’s head' - Smedley
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