Follow us on Google Discover Charles Leclerc has had another frustrating year at the wheel of a Ferrari F1 car, and his annoyances may continue in the 2026 F1 season due to one aspect of the new regulations.
The Monegasque driver’s season has gone in a completely different direction from the one imagined after Ferrari narrowly missed out on constructors’ championship glory to McLaren last season.
Leclerc is yet to register a race win in the current term, and the five podiums he currently has to his name in 2025 are of stark contrast to the 13 he claimed over the course of the 2024 campaign.
Position Constructors’ Standings PointsPts 1 650 2 325 3 300 4 290 5 102
With Ferrari sitting third in the constructors’ standings, with less than half of the already-crowned champions of McLaren, the eight-time Grand Prix winner may already have his sights set on starting afresh with F1’s new 2026 regulations next season.
However, according to a report from The Race, Leclerc’s woes may continue into the upcoming season.
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The 2026 F1 regulations will see ‘plenty more’ radio messages for drivers to lift and coast
The 2026 F1 regulations will bring a swathe of changes to the way F1 cars are built, particularly in the engine department, as well as the aerodynamics.
Due to the fact that the potential energy harvesting capabilities of the 2026 challengers will be a lot greater than the preceding ruleset, it may be enough to slow an F1 car down on its own, which is why some teams have submitted smaller dimensions of brake discs to their respective suppliers.
Drivers may not have to utilise the brakes on the rear axle of the car in order to slow down at certain corners, with there, of course, being some outliers where a distributed brake bias will be necessary.
The report states that braking will be “very different next year” due to energy harvested from the MGU-H (engine energy) being non-existent in the new power units. F1 drivers will need to rely solely on harvesting energy from the MGU-K (braking energy) in order to supply their engines with electrical power.
This means that drivers and fans alike should “expect to hear plenty more calls for lift and coast” in the communications from F1 teams.
READ MORE: Everything we know about F1’s 2026 regulation changes from engines to tyres
Charles Leclerc was furious with his Ferrari race engineer following several calls to lift and coast in Singapore
Ferrari’s SF-25 has been the biggest culprit when it comes to forcing its drivers into lift and coast routines, with one journalist noting that Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc have had to do an abnormal amount of it during the current campaign.
The Singapore Grand Prix was littered with evidence of it.
The Monegasque driver was asked at least 16 times to lift and coast throughout the duration of the 62-lap race, and things boiled over after he was asked for more ‘lico’ on lap 54.
“Don’t even complain. For f— sake, we are doing 200 metres lico all the time,” Leclerc furiously shouted back to his race coach on the pit wall, Bryan Bozzi, via a YouTube video of the saga. The race engineer held his tongue for the rest of the race.
Thus, the energy-saving measure looks like it will continue to haunt the 27-year-old in the years to come, with the only silver lining for Leclerc being the fact that it will also be necessary for some of his on-track rivals to lift and coast at the same time.