Charles Leclerc prioritises Ferrari’s fight for second over 2026 wind tunnel advantage

Charles Leclerc feels it is more important for Ferrari to fight for second in the constructors' championship than focus on gaining more wind tunnel time for 2026.

A sliding scale for wind tunnel allowance was introduced in 2021 alongside the cost cap. Essentially, the higher up the constructors' standings a team finishes, the less wind tunnel time it will be allocated in the following year.

At the point of the Formula 1 summer break, Ferrari sits second in the constructors' championship with 260 points. The dominant McLaren leads with 559 points, so at this stage it is likely that the Maranello outfit will be battling for second against Mercedes (currently third with 236 points) and Red Bull (currently fourth with 194 points).

“I'm pretty sure it's better to finish second than third," Leclerc explained during the Hungarian Grand Prix press conference when asked if he felt it was more important to gain additional wind tunnel time or finish 2025 higher up the standings.

"However, as you said, there's also the wind tunnel time. This is not something we think of too much. When we are on track, we just want to finish as high up as possible and then we'll deal with whatever amount of hours in the wind tunnel we have. We want to target the highest possible.

"Second place in the constructors’ is one of our targets, but the biggest target is to come back to winning races as soon as possible. Wherever we finish, we'll work from there and see how many hours we have next year.”

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Pirelli

Commenting on the remainder of the 2025 season, Leclerc added: "I don't think there's one track at the moment where we think we are stronger than McLaren. Consistently, McLaren is going to be the strongest car this year.

"Red Bull is a little bit more up and down, a bit like us and Mercedes, but there's one constant and that is McLaren. For now, I don't think there's any tracks where I go to and think we will be the favourite, but I hope I'll be surprised."