Where Leclerc thinks Ferrari can achieve "huge gains" on F1 2026 car

Charles Leclerc believes “huge gains” are within reach in all compartments of Ferrari’s 2026 Formula 1 car – including its power unit, chassis, aerodynamics and tyre management.

Ferrari has emerged as Mercedes’ main challenger so far this season, but failed to prevent the Silver Arrows from winning the opening three grands prix following front-row lockouts.

The Scuderia has made no secret of the fact it is down on power unit performance relative to the German brand – which likely is partly linked to Mercedes’ astute interpretation of the rules regarding the engine’s compression ratio, but that loophole will be closed after the fifth round of the season in Canada.

Still, Ferrari needs some powertrain upgrades – which the ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) mechanism might provide opportunities for, with manufacturers between 2% and 4% down on the best engine’s power allowed an additional upgrade, while those who are more than 4% down will get two. The process theoretically occurs after the sixth, 12th and 18th rounds of the season.

But it would be wrong for the Maranello-based squad to focus solely on engine performance, Leclerc insists.

“Surely the Mercedes power units have a big advantage over us at the moment,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1 after losing two tenths per lap to Oscar Piastri and George Russell early in the Japanese Grand Prix, which made him feel “down” on his rivals as he wasn’t “feeling” the power as much. Lewis Hamilton complained of having ‘even less’ power than his team-mate during that race.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Lars Baron / LAT Images via Getty Images

“This is a focus,” Leclerc continued, “but we must not forget that there are huge gains in developing also the chassis, the aerodynamics, putting the tyres in the right window, and all of this makes the difference. So surely the engine, we cannot change it for now anyway. But [by the time] we get there, we need to improve absolutely everything around the car.”

This assessment was shared by Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur, who pledged to keep working hard in order to cut the Scuderia’s gap to Mercedes.

“We know that we have a deficit of performance in the straight line and that we have to work on it, but it is like it is,” the Frenchman commented.

“For sure, we have a lot of work like everybody into the paddock. It is the beginning of the homologation of the car, it means that we have tons of things to improve.

“Now, we have good data after three races to understand the competitiveness of the car, where we are OK-ish and where we are not. It means that performance is coming from everywhere, but we have to do a step in every single area of the performance.

“I am sure that it is true for us, but it will be true for everybody on the grid. It means it's more a matter to do a better jump than the others, than to do a step.”