Charles Leclerc issues robust defence of 'no-brainer' Ferrari decision

Charles Leclerc has given a strong defence of Ferrari's decision to stop 2025 development early, calling it a "no-brainer" of a decision.

Boss Fred Vasseur revealed towards the end of the season that Ferrari had turned off the development taps for its SF-25 machine as early as April to put full focus on the huge rules changes coming in for 2026.

Both Vasseur and Lewis Hamilton have firmly denied that this had any psychological impact on the team as Ferrari endured a winless season and slipped from 14 points behind McLaren in the 2024 constructors' as runners-up to 435 behind and finishing fourth in 2025.

Detailing the decision, Leclerc felt given Ferrari's competitive state early in the season made focusing fully on 2025 a "no-brainer."

"Well, not so much because we were at a technical disadvantage from the first race," Leclerc explained to media, including RacingNews365, when asked about the decision to stop development. 

"So, it's not like it changed our approach to the season,and we saw it relatively quickly that we wouldn't be fighting for the world title because McLaren was too strong, Red Bull was obviously starting to make big gains.

"It wasn't very much of a point to put all our resources into trying to take the third or second place, if everything was going super well, in the constructors', at the cost of next year, whichever cost it may be. 

"It’s never something you want to do. I would have much preferred pushing the development the whole year to try and clinch that world title, 100%. 

"But if you are in the position that we were in at the beginning of the year, I think it was kind of a no-brainer, so I don’t regret it."