a new horrifying article reveals what exactly is behind the struggles of charles with the sf26
first they rightfully highlighted with context and without the hydraulic failure in barcelona and what happened in monaco, charles would only be 6 points behind his teammate. they have the same number of wins and only one less podium. the situation is anything but "dramatic"
they begin by discussing what makes charles special as a driver and although we often talk about how he loves a strong front, it's a little more complicated than that. they say every single driver simply prefers a car that is as neutral as possible but the likes of charles and max love a car that's very precise yet somehow stable in corner entry
but that doesn't mean they like a car that's always on oversteer tilt that would only make it slower and both of these drivers including michael schumacher thrived when the car was a stable beast that can be rotated efficiently
they describe charles as some sort of circus freak juggler lmfao because he does it so differently than even the ones who he is likened to. he basically brakes a little earlier and a little less stronger than hamilton and he loves a pointed front but not in the same aspect as max while he doesn't need anywhere near a firm rear like vettel did
his strong point comes in his incredible ability to manipulate a car. he uses tools at both corner entry and in the middle of the corner while playing with the accelerator like a freak. they describe it as something extremely similar to the style of verstappen, but with less aversion towards a setup that has to be razor sharp front oriented. basically max loves driving a car with a nonexistent rear and he wouldn't even sacrifice it for tracks that required the opposite of that (see baku vs. perez) meanwhile leclerc thrives at places like baku because he has no problem driving around understeer as along as he can utilize his "tools"
they categorize his driving style into three main points: strong front, accelerator manipulation and braking
and speaking of the famous pedal manipulation, it is the first telltale sign that charles is very confident in a car because he loves nothing more than constantly playing with the torque at the rear to stabilize the excessive-rotation that comes with a very strong front (at tracks like baku, monaco etc)
finally, for braking it's important to note that charles is not exactly a "gentle" or "early braker" he just does not want the same first bite as hamilton does. instead and with ferrari, he's gotten used to a lot of engine braking which coincidently was one of the struggles his teammate suffered from last year
now with these new power units, you cannot manipulate a pedal or play with your engine braking unless you want to die. these shitty fucking engines prefer the most amount of predictability and mediocre mess to succeed and in fact they reveal that mercedes have completely abandoned their engine braking for this year's car
of course not to mention that he had to change the brake discs he has driven his entire career on because the brembo material no longer could recharge with the new ferrari braking system upgrade leaving him with cold brakes and practically no power
in the sf26, they have practically taken away every single tool he had that made him special except the strong front and what changed in silverstone in particular was him figuring out something in the tools/setup that allowed him to use his style more
saying all of that, leclerc has faced no problems with adapting but is he as strong as he usually is on the brakes? if we see hard braking tracks (hungary, austria), no, not really
for charles to be at his best again, he just needs a little more adapting because we can see it on track week by week it's a little easier for him to drive around and by 2027 the rules and regulations have implemented changes that should make it even easier for drivers like charles who drive more on instinct instead of predictability
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