Charles Leclerc airs 'notebook' revelation on Lewis Hamilton: 'More than ever'

Charles Leclerc has revealed he is filling notebooks with observations on Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton at a rate he has never experienced before.

The contrasting styles between Leclerc and Hamilton have been well documented, with the seven-time F1 champion favouring late, straight-line braking and a stable rear end, while the Monégasque leans on heavy trail braking and a more rotational approach through corner entry.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has previously stated those differing preferences have, if anything, widened the scope of the team's development work rather than created a problem to be solved.

That technical gap has not stopped Leclerc from studying his team-mate closely. Asked whether the pair had pushed each other to become better drivers this season, Leclerc did not hesitate.

"100 per cent," he said. "To push each other every weekend, there are some weekends where he's just incredibly quick, and I learn a huge amount.

"And when I'm doing a good job, I still learn a huge amount from Lewis in just looking at the data and trying to understand the way he works and the way he just deals with the car because he's incredibly good at it.

"There's always something to take after each weekend. I've got my notebook with a lot of notes, and probably more notes than ever since Lewis joined the team."

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Leclerc on Ferrari upgrade expectations

Leclerc's remarks came as Ferrari prepares to roll out a fourth and final major aerodynamic update for the SF-26 for this weekend's United States Grand Prix, featuring a revised floor aimed at cutting drag. But the 29-year-old was careful not to oversell it.

"They're not that major," Leclerc said of the upgrades. "I've heard quite a lot about them, but they are not as big as maybe what's going around. It's a small step in the right direction, obviously. As always, that's the target.

"Then we still need to put it on the car and do the first three laps and see whether the step we expected is there.

"However, I've heard other teams are bringing big upgrades, so we'll have to see how it compares to them, but I don't expect anything hugely significant.

"I hope it can help us just make that little step forward and win the race as well."