F1 Monaco Grand Prix 2026 Media Day: Leclerc Signs for Ferrari With Other Options on the Table

Charles Leclerc signed a new Ferrari contract and told Monaco’s press room that other options existed, and Ferrari was always the choice anyway. Lando Norris arrived for McLaren’s 1,000th race with measured expectations and a specific reason for quiet confidence. Max Verstappen flagged the bumps as Monaco’s challenge for the Red Bull and said the regulation conversations with the FIA are moving in the right direction. Alex Albon equalled Nigel Mansell’s Williams starts record and is still building the car race by race. Gabriel Bortoleto believes the Audi chassis suits these streets. Esteban Ocon’s gut says Monaco is a better weekend for Haas than Canada was. Thursday at Circuit de Monaco. Six drivers. No noise.

Key Points – F1 Monaco Grand Prix 2026 Media Day

• Leclerc signs a new Ferrari contract at his home race, confirms other options existed, and says Ferrari was always the choice
• Norris is measured about McLaren’s Monaco chances but points to Montreal’s pole gap as a quiet confidence reference, and marks McLaren’s 1,000th race with genuine pride
• Verstappen flags bumps and kerbs as the Red Bull’s specific Monaco weakness and says FIA regulation discussions are now more open and moving positively
• Albon equalled Nigel Mansell’s Williams starts record this weekend and says race pace in Montreal was genuinely competitive against the midfield
• Bortoleto believes Monaco suits the Audi chassis and says the team’s first season has been an achievement given what they built from scratch
• Ocon targets points after P7 here in 2025 and expects the low-speed nature of Monaco to suit Haas better than recent rounds

Charles Leclerc

Leclerc has been with Ferrari for ten years across the academy and the Formula 1 team. The contract extension was confirmed Wednesday and the room in Monaco on Thursday wanted to know why, and why now. He loves the team. He believes in Fred Vasseur’s project. The first car built under Vasseur carries a lot of innovation and he sees the direction clearly. He knows the power unit is where the gap to Mercedes sits. He knows there is a plan to close it.

He did not have a timeline in his head. It just felt right. When the BBC asked whether other options were on the table, he confirmed they were. When they asked who, he declined. Those teams could name themselves if they wanted to. Ferrari was always the choice.

On the championship he was honest. Too early to call. Things can swing quickly with new regulations. The motivation at the factory is real and the push to close the gap to Mercedes is genuine. Monaco is probably the circuit where Ferrari’s package shows best. The straight-line deficit that has hurt them elsewhere matters less here. The chassis and aero strength gets more track time to express itself. He still put Mercedes above them, and McLaren and Red Bull alongside. But if there is one weekend where the red car has its best shot, he pointed to this one.

On the contract conditions question he could not go into detail. Winning is what every driver races for. Winning in red carries a feeling he has dedicated his career to chasing. Whether timeline targets exist inside the contract, he kept to himself.

His Monaco is the one most people do not see during Grand Prix weekend. The village version. Childhood friends, family, the intimacy of a place he has known his whole life. The race is the bonus. The home is the thing.

Lando Norris

McLaren’s 1,000th race. Norris holds the record for most starts by any driver in the team’s history. He said normally he hates stats. This one he is proud of. Not a performance number, just his name alongside people he grew up watching, and a reminder of the journey from where McLaren were a few years ago to where they are now.

On Monaco he was measured. Last year’s run into this weekend was better than this year’s. He did not try to dress that up. His confidence reference was specific. McLaren were closer to pole in Montreal this year than they were the last time they raced there, with what was then a more dominant car. They went on to win from a circuit with similar characteristics, slow speed and low grip. Monaco is the same kind of place. That gives him something. The general shape of the season gives him less.

On Ferrari he was precise. They are not quick on the straights because they are running a high-downforce, high-drag package. That trade gives them a chassis advantage that shows up at circuits like this one. He is aware of it. Mercedes remain the team to beat regardless.

On Q1 with 22 cars on one of the shortest circuits on the calendar, he was direct. It will be tough. The solution is look in the mirrors, use the radio properly, get out of the way. He referenced a previous Monaco qualifying incident involving Leclerc, who confirmed he took a penalty for it, and the room laughed. The problem is real and the fix requires the drivers to actually do what the rules ask.

Max Verstappen

Monaco is home. The Grand Prix is the bonus. He loves living there. Safe, good for kids, friendly. Formula 1 arriving once a year is something he appreciates. It is not the reason he is there.

Red Bull’s low-speed performance has improved. Monaco has no high-speed corners. On paper that helps. The problem is the bumps. Monaco’s surface punishes cars that struggle on kerbs and surface irregularities, and he was direct that this is not where the 2026 Red Bull is at its best. How much has changed since the opening rounds is what Saturday answers.

On the regulations, he had previously said staying with the current formula into 2027 was not mentally doable. The 40/60 power split proposal has not gained traction. On Thursday he said the discussions are ongoing and not up to him at this point. The FIA have been more open this year. There have been actual meetings. Drivers have been involved. He believes that engagement could have prevented some of the problems that emerged. He has trust that the right call will be made.

On racing outside Formula 1, he was straightforward. It does not hurt performance. The GT racing was something he had wanted to do for a long time. Coming back to the paddock with positive feelings from other categories can only help. More endurance racing is in the plan.

Alex Albon

This weekend Albon equalled Nigel Mansell’s record for the most starts by any driver in Williams history. The room asked whether, if he agrees with James Vowles that Williams can fight for championships by 2030, he would be happy to stay another 95 races. He asked whether that was actually the calculation. It was. His answer was yes.

Every year since he joined has been better than the one before. This year the car is further back than expected. He sees the changes being made. He has been part of this team since before Vowles arrived and has put too much into it to walk away before the story finishes.

On Monaco he was positive. The weight penalty effect is low around the Principality. The car performs better in low-speed corners than medium and high-speed, which maps to what Monaco demands. Deployment around this circuit is more user-friendly than most. He arrives expecting a genuine fight in the midfield.

At Melbourne they were closer to Cadillac and Aston Martin than to the teams above. Race pace in Montreal was competitive against Alpine. A meaningful upgrade package has come in over recent rounds and the weight is still coming down. Not back to 2025 level. Getting there.

Gabriel Bortoleto

Second Monaco Grand Prix. First one as a Monaco resident. His brother and mother are staying at his apartment for the weekend. Same quiet preference as Leclerc: home over hotel.

A brand new power unit. A completely new car. Fighting for top-ten finishes in the opening rounds of a debut season is not something anyone guaranteed. Australia delivered Q3 and P9. After that, expectations ran ahead of where the team actually was. Montreal both cars finished, pace was not enough for points, but the baseline is in a better place than it was at the start of the year.

Monaco he approaches as a circuit where the chassis can show itself. Driveability issues are still a work in progress but the aero and mechanical package has held its own against the midfield. Most weekends he has been fighting to reach Q3 or inside it. The race has been the harder part. On a circuit where starting position is everything and the pace gaps compress through the streets, he believes there is something to aim for.

Esteban Ocon

P7 at Monaco last year. Haas’s best result at this circuit that season. Ocon arrives with the same target. The upgrade package from Canada still has things to understand and the team spent the break working through what needs sorting. Low-speed corners, less emphasis on straight-line power. Monaco plays to the car’s strengths more than Canada did.

On Monaco’s overtaking criticism he was direct. The layout has barely changed. It has never been easy to pass. Qualifying matters more here than anywhere else. If you pass someone around these streets, it means something. That is not a problem with the circuit. That is the circuit.

Five hundred metres from the French border. Close enough to feel like a home race. He talked about the French World Cup squad with genuine enthusiasm, PSG’s Champions League win giving the national team a boost heading into the tournament. He was relaxed, confident, and back at a circuit where he has a result to defend.

Coffee Corner Take

Leclerc confirmed other options were on the table and then shut the conversation down in the same breath. He did not need to say that. He chose to. Ferrari was always the choice. He is not staying because he has no alternatives. He is staying because he believes in what Vasseur is building and wants to win in red more than he wants to win anywhere else.

Whether that pays off is what the rest of the season answers. The power unit deficit is real and acknowledged. The 2026 car carries innovation that has not yet translated into pace at the front. Leclerc knows all of it. He signed anyway. At some point the project either delivers or the window narrows. He knows that too.

Verstappen said on Thursday that the FIA discussions are moving positively and he has trust in the process. He has already said publicly that staying with the current formula is not mentally doable. He did not retract that. He pulled back from pushing it further. He has made his point. He is watching to see whether the right people acted on it.

Albon at 95 Williams starts has slipped a little under the radar. He has been inside this rebuild longer than most of the people now leading it and is key to it after that Red Bull move. The 2026 car has been a step back. He said that plainly and stayed anyway. Vowles says 2030 for championships but the reality is he also said that about 2026. Albon says he believes him. Given what he has seen from the inside, that is not a hollow answer but it will need some evidence.

Monaco sets up as genuinely open at the front. Leclerc pointed to it as Ferrari’s best chance of the season. Norris has a Montreal reference that gives McLaren something to work from. Verstappen has flagged the bumps as the limiting factor, which means Saturday qualifying is where the picture becomes real. Mercedes have not been heard from yet this weekend. They arrive as the team to beat. Monaco will not change that assumption until someone actually beats them here.