Leclerc: Ferrari upgrades ‘are working’ but all 'must be perfect'

Charles Leclerc insists Ferrari’s latest upgrade package is doing exactly what it was designed to do – even if Miami delivered a bruising reality check that left the Scuderia staring at the backs of its rivals yet again.

Ferrari arrived in Florida hoping fresh developments on the SF-26 would finally inject momentum into a season that has so far failed to ignite.

Instead, Miami exposed once more the growing gap to the front-runners, reigniting questions about whether the Scuderia has already lost ground in Formula 1’s brutal development war.

But while critics sharpened their knives after another frustrating outing, Leclerc pushed back hard against the suggestion Ferrari’s latest updates had flopped.

The Monegasque insisted the issue was not that Ferrari stood still – it was that everyone else moved faster.

“The upgrade package is working,” Leclerc told reporters. “The thing is, others are pushing as well, and probably the upgrade package was a little bit better.

“We've got other things coming soon, and hopefully that will help us to get back a little bit in front.”

Ferrari’s development race is becoming desperate

There was a time not long ago when Ferrari entered a new regulation era expecting to dominate it. Instead, the Italian outfit now finds itself trapped in an uncomfortable cycle: flashes of promise at race starts, followed by a slow fade backward once races settle into rhythm.

In Miami, that pattern resurfaced again.

Ferrari showed aggression early, briefly looking capable of taking the fight to Mercedes before the pace advantage evaporated over longer stints. As the race unfolded, the red cars slipped away from contention while rivals stretched their legs.

And inside the paddock, whispers grew louder.

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft even floated the theory that Ferrari’s issue may run deeper than aerodynamics, speculating its engine characteristics could be hurting race pace as fuel loads decrease.

“Is it that small turbo that's great in the opening laps, but as the fuel kind of burns off with the other cars, then they don't have that advantage from that smaller turbo, and it becomes a disadvantage for them?” Crofty said.

“Would Lewis Hamilton have featured more without losing all that downforce early on?

“I hope on the drawing board somewhere at Maranello, they've got another upgrade package that works a little bit better, otherwise they are in trouble."

Leclerc, however, is not buying into panic mode just yet. But he made clear that the current generation of cars leaves almost no margin for error – and Ferrari’s future now hinges on winning the crucial development battles that decide modern Formula 1.

“It's fine details, but with this generation of cars, especially in the first year, it will all be about the development,” he said.

“So we have to make sure we do everything perfect in terms of development.”

'I don't think it's a pattern'

The eight-time Grand Prix winner also dismissed suggestions that Ferrari’s SF-26 cannot maintain competitiveness across an entire race distance – a storyline that has become somewhat of a pattern in the team’s recent history.

“I don't think it's a pattern, but let's wait a few more races and understand if it is,” he said. “But I don't have that feeling.”

• Read also: Hamilton says Ferrari simulator ‘sends me in the wrong direction’

Interim, McLaren is surging, Red Bull remains relentless, and Mercedes continues to evolve. Leclerc may insist the latest package works. But in Formula 1, working is never enough.

Not when everyone else is finding lap time too.

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