The simmering tension within the Scuderia Ferrari camp has finally dissipated following a crucial clear-the-air meeting ahead of the race weekend at Interlagos. Charles Leclerc emphasized that sitting down to talk openly was an absolute necessity to resolve the lingering friction sparked by their controversial opening-lap clash at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Last week was already a whirlwind for the Monegasque driver, who celebrated the birth of his first daughter, Bianca, right between the race in Mexico and the upcoming weekend in Brazil. Arriving late in the paddock on Thursday evening, Leclerc immediately joined forces with Lewis Hamilton and Team Principal Frederic Vasseur to address any residual frustration head-on.
"I think it was really good that we all sat down and talked," Leclerc said regarding the summit. "For me, it was obviously a crazy week in a positive way since I became a father for the first time. The discussion certainly helps to clear any frustration that was left, and that was necessary. Now I feel like everything is settled, and therefore I believe the topic is behind us."
While the atmosphere off-track has cleared, Ferrari's engineers face a massive mountain to climb regarding pure performance. Leclerc had to sit out the opening practice session as young driver Dino Beganovic took over his SF-26, and his subsequent running in FP2 proved alarming as he struggled immensely with handling balance and tire degradation at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.
"It was simply a very, very difficult Friday, very tricky. The feeling inside the car was really bad, so we have a huge mountain of work ahead of us. We probably need to change the car more than we usually do because it felt so peculiar," Leclerc admitted, pointing out severe deficiencies in both high-speed corners and straight-line speed compared to their rivals.
As the 20th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season progresses, the Scuderia must quickly find a breakthrough in telemetry and set-up adjustments to salvage their weekend. Read our in-depth analysis and catch all the latest paddock updates right here on Sportrik.
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