Charles Leclerc has looked slightly “lost” this year alongside team-mate Lewis Hamilton, according to former F1 engineer Rob Smedley.
Leclerc and Hamilton were paired together at Ferrari last year when the latter opted to bring the curtain down on his career with Mercedes.
After the seven-time champion struggled for form throughout the 2025 season, this year has marked a considerable step forward under fresh technical regulations.
Hamilton currently sits second in the drivers' championship with a 31-point advantage over Leclerc.
Leclerc has long been seen as Ferrari's main man given his long history with the team - but Smedley believes there has been a shift this year.
“This is the first time in a long time, with Charles, where his team-mate has had, as it happened in that mid period of the first half, a significant upper hand,” Smedley told the High Performance Racing podcast.
“Charles wasn't happy with the car. I know that they changed things on the car, they changed components around the braking system, the types of material and stuff like that.
“But it felt like he was just slightly lost for a driver of his experience and how good he is.”
Despite the troubling period for Leclerc, Smedley's podcast co-host Otmar Szafnauer does not believe an intervention is needed, speaking from his experience as an F1 team boss.
When asked how he would approach the situation, Szafnauer replied: “No, leave him alone. It's the 'dead guys at Fidelity' thing. I would not have a conversation, but be supportive.
“Lewis at the beginning of the year, and I'm not speaking from facts, just the feeling I get, was a little bit more ahead of Leclerc than he is now.
“Charles has stepped it up in the last two towards Lewis.”
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