{"id":2205,"date":"2026-09-13T13:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=2205"},"modified":"2026-09-13T13:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T16:18:22","slug":"leclerc-defends-risky-spanish-gp-strategy-after-p4-i-dont-regret-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/leclerc-defends-risky-spanish-gp-strategy-after-p4-i-dont-regret-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Leclerc defends risky Spanish GP strategy after P4: &#8220;I don&#8217;t regret it&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">News Summary<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Charles Leclerc started fifth and finished fourth after Ferrari committed to an alternative hard-tyre strategy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Monegasque stayed out during the Virtual Safety Car and waited for a full Safety Car or red flag that never arrived.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leclerc defended the gamble and said Ferrari&#8217;s race pace was stronger than the final result suggested.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Charles Leclerc insisted he has no regrets about Ferrari&#8217;s aggressive strategy in the Spanish Grand Prix after finishing fourth at Madring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starting fifth on hard tyres, Leclerc moved up when team-mate Lewis Hamilton retired and then remained on track when a Virtual Safety Car was triggered on lap 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and others stopped, Ferrari kept Leclerc out hoping a full Safety Car or red flag would eventually give him a cheaper pit stop. It never happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leclerc finally stopped on lap 48 and returned to the track fourth, where he finished behind Antonelli, Verstappen and Norris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Starting on the hard was a risk because it&#8217;s quite difficult to get them into the right window,&#8221; Leclerc said after the race. &#8220;Our race pace was very good. We were waiting for a Safety Car that never came, but from the position we were in, it was the best we could do, so I don&#8217;t regret it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Leclerc-GP-Espana-ES-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1020315084\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Leclerc-GP-Espana-ES-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Leclerc-GP-Espana-ES-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Leclerc-GP-Espana-ES-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Leclerc-GP-Espana-ES-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Leclerc-GP-Espana-ES-1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Leclerc-GP-Espana-ES-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Charles Leclerc tried an alternative strategy by starting on hard tyres (Photo: Ferrari)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leclerc also rejected the suggestion that Ferrari had definitively fallen behind Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull in the competitive order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He felt the SF-26 had more potential than Ferrari extracted in Madrid, while also pointing to the older power unit he is using following his <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/leclerc-details-monza-crash-aftermath-i-did-many-tests-and-everything-was-fine\/\">crash at Monza<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Yesterday, in qualifying, we had a little bit more potential,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The car was good this weekend, but there wasn&#8217;t much we could do.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leclerc accepted responsibility for the situation and stressed how close the battle between F1&#8217;s leading teams has become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I can only take responsibility for that and try to recover in the next races,&#8221; he added. &#8220;One thing is certain: the fight is very tight, and they did a better job than us this weekend.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leclerc&#8217;s fourth place takes him to <strong>167 points<\/strong>, fifth in the Drivers&#8217; Championship. Antonelli leads with 292 after his eighth victory of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did Ferrari keep Leclerc out during the VSC?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leclerc had started on hard tyres and Ferrari gambled on a later Safety Car or red flag that could provide a cheaper pit stop. Neither occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does Leclerc regret Ferrari&#8217;s Madrid strategy?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Leclerc said it was a risk but believes it was the best option available from his position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where is Leclerc in the F1 standings?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leclerc is fifth with <strong>167 points<\/strong>, 125 behind championship leader Antonelli.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Charles Leclerc says Ferrari had little to lose by gambling on a Safety Car in Madrid, even though the intervention never came and left him fourth behind Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020314915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Charles Leclerc","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Ferrari","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[28,45,56,29],"42wp_author":[58],"class_list":["post-2205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-f1","tag-ferrari","tag-spanish-gp","42wp_author-vicente-soella"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2205"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2206,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205\/revisions\/2206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020314915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2205"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=2205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}