The Scuderia are expected to introduce revisions to the floor, sidepods, bodywork and front wing as they attempt to improve their competitiveness before the 2026 Formula 1 season concludes.
Leclerc believes Ferrari’s underlying performance is inferior to that of their main competitors, rather than its narrow operating window being the primary issue. Although the car can be difficult to extract maximum performance from, he does not think making it more sensitive to set-up changes would solve the problem.
Ferrari have also struggled to match rival teams in qualifying after frequently looking competitive during practice. Leclerc suggested competitors have additional engine performance available when it matters most.
The team’s simulator preparation has helped deliver a balanced car from the beginning of race weekends, but its smaller turbocharger has contributed to a lack of straight-line speed.
“I’m not sure we are particularly good on Fridays,” Leclerc told media.
“I mean we are, but I believe it comes more from the engine modes that others are running, and once we come to qualifying, they just have something that we don’t.
“In FP1, maybe we are slightly more competitive in comparison to our competitors that have something more for qualifying that we don’t have at the moment.
“I think our car is quite peaky, but I think we do a very good preparation before the weekend on the simulator. The correlation has been quite strong recently, which helps us to do the work on the simulator back at home, and then arrive at the track and have a strong car straight away and a car I feel comfortable with.
“It’s not that if we design a very peaky car, then we can extract more out of it. The raw potential of the car is not at the level of our main competitors, but I don’t think making it more peaky will be able to extract anything more. I think it’s just the raw performance of the car where we are a bit down at the moment.”
Ferrari currently trail Mercedes by 134 points in the Constructors’ Championship, leaving their final major development package with plenty riding on it.
