Leclerc calls Hadjar’s Ferrari claim nonsense
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 23, 2026
Leclerc dismisses Ferrari claim
Charles Leclerc has little patience for outside guesses about Ferrari’s performance. He called Isack Hadjar’s claim that Ferrari were the quickest team in Singapore “nonsense,” and he pushed back on the idea that one result can settle the debate about pace. Leclerc said drivers who are not inside a team cannot know a rival car’s true performance, and he pointed to the small differences that can swing the picture in a field as tight as this one. A setup choice here, an execution detail there, and the order can change. That, in Leclerc’s view, is why the conversation about who is really fastest can move quickly from one weekend to the next. He also said Mercedes was the only possible outlier in the group ahead and suggested the team could still unlock more pace than expected. Even with that possibility, Leclerc expects the battle at the front to stay close as the paddock heads to the United States Grand Prix in Austin.
Hadjar backs Red Bull
Hadjar’s comments came from the opposite angle. He said Red Bull do not have the fastest car, even after a strong run in Singapore, and he argued that Verstappen’s finish there did not prove Red Bull were the outright benchmark. Hadjar said Ferrari were the quickest team at the Marina Bay circuit and went even further, saying Verstappen would have won by an even bigger margin if he had been driving a Ferrari SF-26. He also said Red Bull’s car remains very hard to drive, even if he is encouraged by the team’s recent performance. That mix of praise and criticism fits the way Hadjar described the picture around him. He sees Red Bull as improving, but he does not see the field as settled. His own Singapore weekend showed both the frustration and the progress he has been dealing with. He missed Sprint Qualifying because of technical problems, then started the Grand Prix from the pit lane after power-unit changes and still finished 10th. The result gave him a point of reference, but not a simple answer about where the team stands. He also made clear that he is still looking for a cleaner weekend in Austin after two frustrating races.
Austin pace
The next stop in Austin offers another test of how close the front-running fight really is. Piastri said Red Bull’s recent upgrades have made the team more consistently quick, which lines up with the broader sense that the order keeps shifting from circuit to circuit. He also said Ferrari were strong in Singapore, but that their pace changes depending on the track. That view keeps the debate moving away from one-off judgments and toward how each team adapts from venue to venue. Hadjar will take that into the United States Grand Prix with a clear target, a clean race after two difficult weekends. He finished 16th at Circuit of The Americas last season, so Austin gives him a familiar benchmark as well as another chance to measure Red Bull’s progress. The larger picture remains the same. Leclerc says no one outside a team can really know the truth of the order. Hadjar believes Red Bull are still not the quickest. Piastri sees a team that is getting more consistent and a Ferrari that can still look strong on the right track. That leaves Austin as another chapter in a field where the margins stay small and the arguments over pace keep changing.
