Charles Leclerc stated that Ferrari’s aggressive approach to updates for the 2026 Formula 1 season is quite impressive
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After 12 rounds contested on the calendar, the Maranello team is only 87 points behind Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, with both the Monegasque and Lewis Hamilton having already achieved wins in this championship.
Throughout the rounds, the team has presented update packages, including races like Miami, Barcelona, Austria, England, Hungary, and the Netherlands, as well as engine development, making the best use of ADUO tokens, for this weekend’s home race in Monza.
“There is a very clear development program, and there are still many things we want to improve. It is very clear what the main limitations of the first part of the season are. The engine and the power we currently have, compared to Mercedes and Red Bull, are the points where we are most behind, and that is where our focus is,” he said.
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“We have teams dedicated to the engine, chassis, and aerodynamics, but the program is set and we know where we want to get to; that is a positive thing. I don’t think we had particularly bad surprises in the first half of the season, something that was difficult with the previous generation of cars, due to ground contact.”
“Sometimes, on-track performance did not match what we saw in the wind tunnel; we don’t have that problem this year, which is very positive for the development of future updates we want to bring to the car. It is something very impressive. We have taken a very aggressive approach this year compared to previous ones. First, regarding innovation; I see this as a very positive sign, demonstrating our ability to innovate and seek creative solutions within the limits of the regulations,” he continued.
“And secondly, the aggressive, very aggressive plan to bring updates. I believe the production sector has done an incredible job in this first half of the season, working at maximum pace so that we received the parts as quickly as possible. This makes a big difference in a year like this, where we are in an early development phase and each update brings a huge impact; therefore, we will continue to push this way in the second half of the season,” he concluded.
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