Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari's extensive upgrades to its SF-26 car will not close the gap to dominant Mercedes at this weekend's Miami Grand Prix. Despite bringing the most updates of any team, Leclerc expects the Silver Arrows to remain ahead after winning all three races so far in 2026. He anticipates a tighter battle with McLaren instead.
Ferrari has introduced 11 updated components to its SF-26 for the Miami Grand Prix, the highest number among teams, following cancellations of the Saudi Arabia and Bahrain rounds. This Miami event, set for this weekend, serves as an ideal testing ground for upgrades after a five-week break in the season. Mercedes, with just two changes, has won every grand prix in 2026 so far, according to Leclerc's assessment. McLaren, third in the standings, applied seven upgrades to its MCL40 and showed strong pace in Japan before a safety car intervened for Oscar Piastri. Seven teams brought more than five updates to Miami, Leclerc noted, calling the situation unusual. “It's going to be pretty unusual to see so many upgrades on so many different teams,” Leclerc said. “Whether it will change significantly the pecking order that we have seen since the beginning of the year, I doubt so. ... At least for us, there's McLaren that was very close in the last weekend, so I think the package will make a difference on that, hopefully for us better. But at the point of going and getting Mercedes, I think they were too ahead for us to actually get them only with what we are bringing here.” Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc's Ferrari teammate, mentioned recent wet-weather testing at Fiorano, which could prove useful with rain forecast for Sunday. “I did two days testing the rain in Fiorano and so that hopefully puts me in a decent position to figure out if it rains on Sunday,” Hamilton said. He addressed power issues from Japan, resolved through analysis and simulator work. In the standings, Kimi Antonelli leads, with Leclerc third at 23 points behind and Hamilton fourth, eight points further back.
