Charles Leclerc identifies “clear thing” Ferrari need to improve to catch Mercedes in F1 2026

Charles Leclerc says Ferrari must improve its power unit performance if it is to catch Mercedes during the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Leclerc claimed his second podium of the season by finishing third behind Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Monegasque made another brilliant start from fourth to jump both Mercedes drivers. Leclerc lost out to George Russell early on and was left to rue the timing of a safety car, which was deployed after he had made an early pit stop.

Leclerc had to fight his way back onto the podium, passing Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Russell’s Mercedes to secure third place.

“Obviously with the Safety Car we got a little unlucky so from that moment onwards I knew that I was a little bit on the back foot, especially compared to Kimi and Lewis," said Leclerc.

"But then I was like, let's keep pushing, let's try and keep those tyres and bring them to the end and actually it wasn't that much of a disadvantage as I thought.

"The tyres were actually pretty good, the few laps that I had done wasn't so bad, it was just that we lost a few positions and then it was quite a fun race. Just not quite enough to get Oscar but it was a cool race.

"I'm quite pleased. Of course I'm not over the moon because it's only a P3 but considering everything, we've been quite unlucky with the Safety Car."

Ferrari started the season as clearly the second-best team behind Mercedes but appeared to fall behind McLaren in Japan.

Asked if there is one aspect of Ferrari’s performance the team needs to focus on, Leclerc replied: “I think doing a step back on those first three races, there’s a clear thing that we need to improve and this is surely the power unit.

“But we obviously cannot bring anything to Miami. But there’s not only that, and in a year like this one everything is very new. I think the rate of improvements of every team is massive, so there’s a lot more than just the power unit.

“There’s putting the tyres in the right window, there’s the aero, there’s the chassis, and on that we’ll work flat out in order to try and close the gap as much as possible to the Mercedes and to hopefully keep behind the McLaren, and then we’ll see.

"But yes, I think the power unit is maybe our main weakness at the moment, but there are many other things that can definitely influence and help us to close the gap in the meantime.”