Charles Leclerc hits back at “artificial” racing claims with new F1 cars

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc says racing in Formula 1’s controversial new cars “doesn’t feel so artificial” from the cockpit, following his battle with team-mate Lewis Hamilton in China.

F1’s new regulations were aimed at improving the on-track spectacle, following years of stale action in the previous ground effect generation of cars.

But the amount of energy management needed with the new power units has drawn ire from drivers and fans for how the so-called ‘superclipping’ is impacting things.

In the opening two rounds of the 2026 campaign, there have been several yo-yo battles, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton engaging in a tense tussle in the Chinese Grand Prix.

But many have criticised the racing seen so far as artificial, with Max Verstappen likening it to Mario Kart.

New rules are creating “some interesting overtaking places”

Leclerc challenged this, however, after the Chinese Grand Prix, noting: “I enjoyed it, and it doesn’t feel so artificial from inside the car.

“Of course, you’ve got those overtakes where it’s artificial whenever someone is doing a mistake with the battery and completely drains it, then there’s a massive speed difference.

“But I feel we are all converging a little bit towards knowing where we shouldn’t go and where we can take the risks, so that creates some very interesting overtaking places.

“I think this [battle with Hamilton] was showing that.”

Leclerc added: “It was a very hard but fair battle, which was nice.

“Then there are a lot of tactics from inside the cockpit, and that is really cool.

“There was this battle for who would get the overtake in the last corner and we both braked very early, and the way you deploy and manage the energy, so it was a fun race.”

Leclerc, who finished fourth in China, says the smaller, lighter cars make it easier to attempt overtakes on the outside of competitors.

And while he accepts that the new engine rules need tweaked to improve qualifying, he has backed the FIA to find a solution.

“Yeah, it’s also a little bit easier to go around the outside.

“It’s not those super-high downforce cars that we used to have in the past that were a little bit tricky.

“However, there are some things that we of course need to look at to make it a little bit more Formula 1-like in qualifying, because I feel like there, there is something that we are missing a little bit.

“But I know the FIA is working on it and hopefully, we will find a solution for that.”