Charles Leclerc was skeptical about Ferrari maintaining its good performance at Formula 1 starts in 2026. The Monegasque pointed out that he believes at some point, the other teams will catch up with the Italian team.
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The main strength of the Maranello team in this championship seems to be the race starts. Since pre-season in Bahrain, the performance had stood out, and at the Australian GP it was indeed confirmed with Charles jumping to the lead starting from fourth and Lewis Hamilton going from seventh to fourth.
This is an area where Ferrari seems to have excelled compared to its rivals at the start of Formula 1 2026, but it is not something that Leclerc believes will continue for long on the calendar.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to keep that advantage. When the engines are all running in the ideal range, I don’t think there will be much difference between the cars at the start,” he said.
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“We have an advantage in terms of the robustness of our system, as it seems we can get into that ideal range a bit more easily compared to others, especially Mercedes. But once Mercedes learns how to position themselves in the ideal range, I don’t think there will be much difference between the cars,” he continued.
“I don’t expect them to take long to learn how to position themselves in the ideal range. I don’t think this advantage will last the whole season,” he concluded.
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