Charles Leclerc raises Ferrari concerns after Miami GP performance loss

Leclerc had been fighting for the final podium spot against McLaren’s Oscar Piastri when he spun at the opening section at Miami Gardens on the last lap. The 20-second penalty came his way after Leclerc left the track repeatedly as he brought a damaged SF-26 home, while also losing places to George Russell and Max Verstappen.

After the race, Leclerc lamented a drop of pace as his 57-lap race unravelled, calling on Ferrari to look into tyre degradation he experienced. Speaking to media, including GPblog, Leclerc said: “On the medium [tyre] we weren’t strong. We were degrading a massive amount.

“On the hard, it wasn’t great at the beginning, then it picked up, and then it was a little bit better, but it was never at the level of yesterday,” in reference to the Sprint Race, in which Leclerc finished P3. He added: "We need to look at it. We’ve lost a lot of performance compared to yesterday, and I would like to understand exactly what happened there.”

Leclerc was later asked whether he was concerned Ferrari’s drop-off was becoming a pattern, with Miami not the first race to see the Scuderia lose performance to its rivals on race day. Leclerc, however, was not jumping to conclusions: “I don't think it's a pattern, but let's wait a few more races and understand if it is, but I don’t have that feeling.”

Meanwhile, Leclerc had his say on the 2026 regulation tweaks introduced at the Miami GP, telling GPblog and others: “The battles in itself, I don't think those changed massively. In qualifying, some things changed. Then the regulation will remain the regulations. I mean, we cannot do a revolution in the middle of the year. But it was a step on the right direction. A little bit, yes. It was a little bit better to drive naturally."

Focusing on wheel-to-wheel racing, Leclerc defended the 2026 rules, arguing against the likes of Max Verstappen, who has likened the racing to something out of ‘Mario Kart’.

Leclerc said: “I’ve always disagreed a little bit with that. I know I'm a bit of an outsider on the grid but I felt that at least for the fights I've had with the guys in front, when you’ve got cars that have a system in a similar way to yours, actually the overtaking is really good. It's a bit more strategic than last year.”