Leclerc: In Spa, Mercedes remains the favorite.

      At the previous stage in Silverstone, Charles Leclerc achieved victory, stepping onto the podium for the first time since the fall of 2024. Of course, at the press conference in Spa, the Ferrari driver was mainly asked about this achievement and whether he would be able to replicate such a high result...

      Charles Leclerc: "I won't hide that thanks to the recent victory, I am in a good mood. In several previous stages, we had problems with the car, I was trying to achieve comfortable feelings behind the wheel, and now I am very happy that the work paid off. But at the same time, I have to admit that it was only like that in Silverstone, and now I want to repeat this result on different tracks.

      Speaking of confidence, I never doubted that if I manage to handle my tasks well behind the wheel of the car, then the results will come. And when I am confident in the car, if its behavior suits me, then everything falls into place as it should.

      But for that, I have to work, which we have been doing for the last few days, primarily trying to understand why we performed much better on the British track than expected, so that we can reproduce such results more often in the future.

      Already in Silverstone, I began to understand what exactly we changed and what allowed me to achieve more comfortable feelings. Although if we talk about the car's performance as a whole, I think there are a number of aspects that require a deeper and more detailed approach. To fully understand everything, we need to drive more laps and test a number of approaches.

      Speaking of the competitive landscape, before the Spa stage, I occupy roughly the same positions as before Silverstone. In my opinion, both the British track and the Belgian one are still much better suited for Mercedes, and in Silverstone, I was surprised that we were so fast there, and I am ready to honestly admit that.

      Therefore, I believe that in Spa, Mercedes still remains the favorite. But our team continues to intensively develop technical innovations, and in this regard, I trust Frederic Vasseur the most. A lot of work is being done in Maranello, and Ferrari specialists are applying a creative approach in their efforts to modernize the SF-26 as quickly and efficiently as possible."