Australian F1 GP | Ferrari, Leclerc: "I'm not happy for many reasons."

Melbourne - Charles Leclerc conquers the first podium of 2026 for the Classic Ferrari for sale in the opening race of the season. The Monegasque placed third behind the two Silver Arrows and followed closely by a Lewis Hamilton in great shape.

At the start, the number 16 Ferrari took advantage of the misfortunes of its rivals on the front row, who were running out of energy despite the five additional seconds before the green light. Leclerc took the lead, followed by George Russell and teammate Hamilton. It doesn't take long for the Mercedes Benz you return to the attack, starting a dance of continuous overtaking on the track of theAlbert Park.

At first glance, the dance seems almost exciting, and it's easy to think that perhaps this regulation has been misjudged. And understandably so, given that it all happens shortly after 5 a.m. However, the more attentive spectators, those a little more alert, quickly realize that the "battle" between Leclerc and Russell is nothing more than a constant tug-of-war caused precisely by a regulation that causes cars to run out of battery power and suddenly stall on the track. No, Leclerc and Russell aren't fighting, but they are taking turns being left in the lurch by the drop in energy, which suddenly makes them slow and, let's face it, dangerous on the track.

In the end, it is the battery level that decides the fate of the battery. Virtual Safety Car, or rather, the inertia of the Ferrari pit wall when the yellow flag was waved. The Mercedes returned to the pits, while at the pit wall Maranello The decision was made to stick with Plan A. Leclerc would only pit on lap 25 for hard tires, which he would keep until the checkered flag in a stint that wasn't as competitive as Hamilton's, who almost snatched third place. Despite his podium celebrations, Leclerc's feelings weren't positive: according to him, Ferrari wasn't the second-best team on the track, but rather the second-to-last team on the list of the worst. All teams are experiencing problems and uncertainties in this unlucky and harshly criticized regulatory era. There are too many variables, too many circumstances for the driver to manage inside the car, all with the fear of running out of electrical power and causing damage to themselves or their opponents.

Leclerc: "I'm not happy for many reasons."

“I'm not happy at all, but I'm still smiling. It's going to be a very long year, but I can't be happy at all, for many reasons. There are many things to optimize, but that's the case for everyone; in fact, we were perhaps among the best. The first lap was a disaster in managing everything, and we're alone because the engineers don't talk to us during chaotic moments; it would be too difficult to manage them while we're fighting on the first lap. We did a good job managing things as best we could,” Leclerc said at the end of the race.

Leclerc: "I struggled to hold onto third place."

The Monegasque is also not happy with the strategy, which saw Ferrari lose more than a few chances against Mercedes.

“I'm not happy with the pace; I need to do better, and I wasn't at my best. The strategy was difficult, but I didn't have a structured weekend, where you drive a more consistent car from FP1 to FP3. I went back and forth with the setup, and that's never good. Today I struggled to hold onto third place; Lewis was faster than me in the final stages. However, it's a good start: yesterday, eight tenths hurt, but today in the race it doesn't seem like we're that far away. I hope it stays that way for the rest of the year and that we can close the gap in qualifying.

"We all had problems at the start. The Mercedes batteries, speaking to them, were flat, ours was a little over-charged, but not much," Charles continued. "I noticed there was a problem at the start of the lap and had to manage the situation as best I could, and we came out on top. I don't understand why everyone had this problem; I'm talking about the low battery. Then the battle with George was great, I was happy to be first, but then we lost him with the pit stop."