Leclerc reveals harsh reality for Ferrari’s car vs Mercedes before Japan GP

The Monegasque driver, when asked about Ferrari’s 2026 car relative to Mercedes, delivered a realistic yet subtly optimistic outlook. Speaking ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Leclerc highlighted that this season is largely a development race between teams, and while Ferrari is performing at an acceptable level, Mercedes remains the benchmark.

"Well, I think, as everyone is saying, this championship is going to be all about development and the upgrades that each team is going to bring," Leclerc began.

"For now, we are in an okay-ish place, but of course, we’re not here just to get podiums, we want to win races, which at the moment seems very difficult because Mercedes is at a very high level," he added.

The 28-year-old added that Ferrari remains committed to improving the SF-26, with upgrades expected in the near future.

When pressed further about how close the Ferrari team is to pace-setters Mercedes, Leclerc admitted that despite the gap appearing closer during races, it seems to be over four to five tenths between the two teams.

"Our only chance to stay with them is to pressure them in the first few laps, but as soon as they get free air, they show their real pace, as we saw in the last race. I think there are still these four or five tenths that we’ve seen throughout the first two races," he noted.

Leclerc, however, was far from discouraged by the gap, circling back to the upgrades expected for the Ferrari car, which he believes will be integral in closing the gap to the front-running Mercedes.

The SF-26 has proven to be one of the quickest cars on the grid, particularly with its lightning-quick starts, which have been especially eye-catching. However, the Ferrari team has failed to fend off the challenge of Mercedes through the first two race weekends of the campaign.

Earlier, Hamilton struck a pessimistic tone in his comparison of Ferrari’s pace to Mercedes. The British driver noted that the perceived advantage many believe Ferrari holds over their rivals is actually non-existent.

Hamilton, however, highlighted how he expects the strategy deployed by both teams to be integral to the results recorded in Suzuka.

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