Ferrari left Suzuka with a solid points haul but also with a clear sense of where it stands in the early phase of Formula 1’s radically new 2026 era. And according to Charles Leclerc, the team’s priorities for the long five‑week break before Miami are obvious—if not immediately solvable.
Asked what single area he would like Ferrari to focus on before the next round, Leclerc did not hesitate: Well, 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.”
The admission is significant. Ferrari entered 2026 knowing that the new power unit formula—featuring a 50/50 split between internal combustion and electrical power—would expose any inefficiencies in energy deployment, harvesting, and thermal management. Suzuka, with its long acceleration zones and high‑load corners, made those weaknesses painfully visible.
But Leclerc was quick to acknowledge that the team cannot simply conjure up a new engine in time for Miami: “But we obviously cannot bring anything to Miami.”
That limitation forces Ferrari to focus on the areas it can influence in the short term. And Leclerc made clear that the power unit is only one part of a much broader performance picture.
“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.”
He then laid out the checklist of priorities that will define Ferrari’s next month of development work: “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.”
The reference to Mercedes is telling. The Silver Arrows have emerged as the early benchmark of the 2026 regulations, with their hybrid efficiency and low‑drag aero concept giving them a decisive advantage on both deployment and straight‑line performance.
Leclerc’s assessment of Ferrari’s hierarchy of weaknesses was blunt but balanced: “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.”
That “meantime” is crucial. Ferrari knows that major power unit upgrades are locked behind homologation windows and development cycles that cannot be accelerated. But the team also knows that the 2026 cars are still in their infancy, and the early‑season development race will be ferocious.
