Charles Leclerc: Ferrari upgrades to make no difference against Mercedes at F1 Miami GP

Ferrari has brought a heavily-upgraded SF26 to this weekend's Miami Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc reckons Mercedes will still be a step ahead of Ferrari at this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, despite the Scuderia bringing several updates to its 2026 Formula 1 car.

The Italian outfit has 11 updated components across its SF-26, which is the most of any team, as Miami is the ideal place for upgrades due to the April rounds in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain being cancelled.

Mercedes on the contrary has only brought two upgrades this weekend, but Leclerc still thinks the Silver Arrows will remain the dominant force after winning all three grands prix so far in 2026.

Ferrari is instead facing pressure from third-placed McLaren, which was ahead on pace last time out in Japan and had Oscar Piastri on course for the win until an untimely safety car.

It has nevertheless applied seven upgrades to its MCL40 this weekend, meaning McLaren is one of seven teams to have brought more than five car updates to Miami.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

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Leclerc said: “It's going to be pretty unusual to see so many upgrades on so many different teams. Also for the way the season has been with the five-week break, so I'm pretty sure most of the people will have kind of new cars from here.

“Whether it will change significantly the pecking order that we have seen since the beginning of the year, I doubt so. We might see less or more gaps between some teams, but I don't know.

“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. But it's going to be very interesting.

“I think it's going to dictate a lot of what's going on after that, because there will be new direction of development and new things that we might want to explore after the weekend and after having analysed what the other team will bring.”

One thing that may decide this weekend’s grand prix is the weather as rain is forecast for Sunday and recently Ferrari actually completed a wet test at its home track in Fiorano.

The preparation done there might help it this weekend as much as its upgrades, which Leclerc’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton claimed are done to improve car power.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

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“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,” said the seven-time world champion.

“It's been good for everyone to step back and have a look at analysing their first three races and obviously the last race I felt I was down on power.

“We did a deep dive and understood that it wasn't the engine but the systems all together including several things coming together to the eight, nine tenths of straightline power.

“We got on top of that, worked in the sim at the factory every week training a huge amount and I felt refreshed.”

Hamilton arrives this weekend sitting fourth in the standings and eight points behind third-placed Leclerc, who is 23 off championship leader Kimi Antonelli.