Charles Leclerc Admits Ferrari No Longer Has Best Chassis
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari must not lie to themselves after conceding the team no longer has the best chassis on the 2026 grid. Speaking to Sky F1 after finishing fourth at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Monegasque said rivals have closed the gap sharply since the early rounds of the season. The Charles Leclerc Ferrari chassis admission lands at an awkward moment for Maranello, which is still searching for the pace it showed earlier in the year.
Official Baku Verdict and Primary Driver Analysis
“I think so, but we must not lie to ourselves: McLaren and Red Bull have made a big step forward,” Leclerc said when asked about the tracks still to come this year. He added that Mercedes had joined that group too, telling reporters: “I think Mercedes is also making steps forward in terms of corner speed.”
Leclerc was blunt about where Ferrari now stand compared with those three teams. “And so, I don’t think we have the best, best chassis like we used to have earlier in the season,” he said, before pointing to the work still needed. “So, this is something that we need to work on and come back to a better level on that.”
Asked whether straight line speed had cost him in Baku, Leclerc replied: “Yeah, I think straightline speed [was lacking], but not only that.” He went further: “The raw pace was just not there compared to a Red Bull, compared to the Mercedes.” He also pointed to a difficult start, telling Crash.net after the race: “The McLaren was here and there, but we had a bad start, which unfortunately conditioned our whole race after that.” He admitted he had hoped for more: “So, a bit of a shame. I was hopeful about the second place. But, being realistic as well, we knew it would be a difficult race.”
Ferrari Season Trajectory and Technical Context
Ferrari’s form has fallen sharply since the summer. The team scored podiums in six of the first seven races this season, including a win for Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona and victory for Leclerc at Silverstone. Since the Belgian Grand Prix in July, though, Ferrari haven’t stood on the podium again, and Leclerc’s fourth place in Baku remains their best result in that stretch.
Maranello tried to close the gap with an updated engine at Monza, but the ADUO2 package failed to close the power deficit to Mercedes and Red Bull. That shortfall echoes concerns raised in our report on the engine upgrade leak last month. The Charles Leclerc Ferrari chassis problem now looks structural rather than a one-race blip. Hamilton’s afternoon in Baku brought little relief either; the Briton finished sixth, well off the front of the field.
Upcoming Timeline and Development Focus for Maranello
Ferrari now need fresh answers on cornering speed and outright pace, the two areas Leclerc singled out as the biggest gap to McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes. His comments echo his qualifying predictions earlier this year, when he had already flagged rivals closing in.
With no further engine updates confirmed beyond the Monza package, the focus at Maranello turns to aerodynamic and mechanical gains through the rest of the season. Leclerc’s tone suggested patience rather than panic, but he made clear the deficit isn’t going away on its own.
