Charles Leclerc admits that he is happy for Ferrari to prioritise the push for the 2025 runner-up spot over 2026 wind-tunnel time.

The summer break marks the point at which basically everyone shifts focus from this season to next, though some made the commitment some time ago.

The rules overhaul, amongst the most far-reaching in living memory, mean that teams want to devote as much time as possible preparing, and naturally this includes wind tunnel testing.

When the budget cap was introduced in 2021, so too were new rules governing wind tunnel and CFD testing.

As part of the bid to level the field - how did that work out for you Stefano and Mohammed? - the more successful a team the less time it got for testing.

Ferrari is currently second in the standings and though it has no hope of overhauling McLaren it can hold off Mercedes over which it currently has a 24-point advantage.

Leclerc feels that it is more important that Ferrari maintains that position - though surely it doesn't need the difference in prize money - even if the rules mean that it will lose out in testing.

"I'm pretty sure it's better to finish second than third," says the Monegasque. "However, there's also the wind tunnel time," he admits.

"This is not something we think of too much. When we are on track, we just want to finish as high up as possible and then we'll deal with whatever amount of hours in the wind tunnel we have.

"We want to target the highest possible," he insists. "Second place in the constructors' is one of our targets, but the biggest target is to come back to winning races as soon as possible. Wherever we finish, we'll work from there and see how many hours we have next year."

Looking ahead to the second half of the season, he admits that only one thing is clear.

"I don't think there's one track at the moment where we think we are stronger than McLaren. Consistently, McLaren is going to be the strongest car this year.

"Red Bull is a little bit more up and down, a bit like us and Mercedes, but there's one constant and that is McLaren.

"For now, I don't think there's any tracks where I go to and think we will be the favourite, but I hope I'll be surprised."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 14/08/2025 2:59

"The dominant element of F1 seduction is that despite the complexity of each and every car plus the added element of convergence we still are able to produce varying results...on the day. Some teams will be consistent and others will not and that's where the human element is introduced by way of the driver/s as they tailor the performance to their individual driving styles. It's a source of continued amazement that they can all be so 'close' yet so distant when it comes to the chequered flag!

As for the latest surge in Aston Martin performance and the claim that they are ignorant of 'it's' origin doesn't ring true. I actually saw Adrian Newey in AM green with clipboard and pencil at two races lately! Now AN doesn't go to F1 races to socialise in the Paddock Club. He has no doubt sprinkled some of his 'magic dust' around both garages hence the enhanced performance we've all just witnessed. Not too difficult to understand....."

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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 13/08/2025 7:56

"It seems that in the is brave 'new' ground-affect world there can be only one winner. For several years it was RBR, now it is McLaren. Everyone else seems to be having patches of brilliance, which like Aston recently, they cannot explain, quantify or repeat with any regularity.

It seems that there is an inherent characteristic of making GE work which means that the differences between success & failure are small & this makes it very, very hard consistently to hit the optimum. Given evolution' & how hugely prescriptive the current Tech Regs are many cars are fundamentally similar with McLaren having tapped in to some 'secret sauce' (1mm here, 5mm there etc.) which makes all the difference."

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3. Posted by Max Noble, 11/08/2025 11:28

"…tomorrow is always a day away…
Live in the moment and win this year… or endlessly chase perfection for “next season”…? Either that, or Charles knows something about the 2026 Ferrari engine we do not… :-)
"

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Leclerc willing to forego wind tunnel time

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