Charles Leclerc admits: Deleted social media apps from phone

– Due to its enormous popularity, Ferrari has always been accustomed to intense media attention. This usually creates additional pressure on the team as well as the drivers – especially when the results are disappointing or fall short of expectations.

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Last year, Ferrari faced a massive wave of criticism, which coincided with the arrival of an exceptional talent of Lewis Hamilton’s caliber. However, at the start of the 2026 season, his performance (as well as that of the team) noticeably improved.

For Charles Leclerc, however, the rest of the season went significantly less well: With high hopes for a strong result, he traveled to his home race in Monaco – on a track that theoretically seemed tailor-made for the red car.

But those hopes were completely dashed in the race after an incident in the final stages. As Leclerc later explained, three out of four brakes failed after the safety car phase.

As if that wasn’t enough: In Barcelona, Leclerc experienced a real debacle, while his teammate Hamilton celebrated his first win for Ferrari there.

The Monegasque blamed hydraulic and gearbox problems as well as changed braking behavior in the last laps for the misery, but also admitted that his poor qualifying result was a main trigger for the further course.

Getting rid of the distractions

In an episode of the official Formula 1 podcast Beyond The Grid, Leclerc speaks openly with Tom Clarkson about the defining moments of this difficult phase. He admits frankly that disturbing side noises reduce one’s own performance – even if drivers try very hard not to show it.

He particularly highlights the downsides of social media. To focus exclusively on his performance without any distraction, he took action, consistently avoided the networks, and deleted all apps from his smartphone.

“That was an extremely important step because it happened exactly during a phase of the season when there was enormous negativity,” he says. “And in such an environment, it becomes increasingly difficult to deliver top performance. I think many drivers try to cover up or deny that it affects them or that they are completely immune to the noise from outside.”

“But you can’t be. In these extremely difficult moments, I had no social media apps on my phone. I simply didn’t want to hear anything,” says the Monegasque.

“The only thing that mattered to me was my performance in the car, my feeling at the wheel, and the attempt to improve. We had some problems with the car that we worked on solving – which we eventually succeeded in. But in such tough phases, a lot of doubts arise.”

“Suddenly, countless questions arise, and you can’t completely escape them,” he describes. “Not least because on Thursday at media day, you don’t just get the positive, pleasant questions you would like to hear. Naturally, there is a lot of negativity, and to some extent, that is understandable.”

Low point in Barcelona

“People question the situation and want to understand where the problems come from. But as a driver, that’s exactly the last thing you want to talk about,” he says. “It was damn tricky to work in this environment, but I think we handled it fantastically. Because it all started in Canada – on a track that I had never really liked.”

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“I struggled the whole weekend there, and then you travel to Monaco. I had high hopes because Monaco has always been a place for something special for me,” says Leclerc. “Of course, because it is my home, but also because historically I have always been very competitive there. But this time, the feeling was wrong from the first free practice to the race.”

“And in the race, this problem followed, which ultimately caused us to retire.”

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Leclerc also honestly describes his emotional state after the Grand Prix in Barcelona, where the weekend completely slipped away from him and ended in a debacle.

“And on Sunday, we had another problem and scored no points. So those were three extremely bitter weekends in a row. I have experienced in my career: When things go well, the momentum quickly shifts towards the title fight.”

“Then everything becomes exponentially positive – almost too positive. If things go badly, the pendulum swings in exactly the opposite direction. Suddenly, everything around me and the whole team was negative,” he says.

Turnaround in Silverstone

The turnaround, however, came in Silverstone – a track that Leclerc loves above all, but where he did not know what to expect beforehand. In the end, he drove his Ferrari all the way to the top of the podium there.

“I can only repeat: Working in such an atmosphere is incredibly difficult. And then you come to Silverstone – a track I love, but where I absolutely did not know where we stood. On paper, everything spoke against it, because Silverstone and Spa were predicted to be the two toughest weekends of the entire first half of the season.”

“So I just thought: For heaven’s sake, this comes at the worst time. But then we go out in FP1, and the driving feeling is immediately as strong as in the Barcelona sessions. From then on, things fell into place by themselves.”

“And in the end, we won the race.”

Leclerc confirms that this breakthrough after the long dry spell not only gave a huge boost to his morale and confidence behind the wheel but also to the belief in the strength of the team.

He continues: “It came unexpectedly – given all the negativity around me, but also because of the skepticism towards the team on this particular track layout. And I have to say: The victory could not have come at a better time.”

“It felt incredibly good. Because when you work so long to turn things around… I mean, we are only talking about three races, but with the weeks in between, it stretches over a whole month.”

“And a whole month of just trailing behind definitely does not feel good at all!”

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