Marco Rossi · F1 Correspondent
After finishing second in Singapore, Charles Leclerc says openly that Ferrari's latest updates are not enough to beat Max Verstappen. In Austin, the Scuderia brings its last major package for the SF-26.
Max Verstappen has won twice in a row, and twice Ferrari was not close enough at the end. Ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin (October 23 to 25), Charles Leclerc draws a sober conclusion: the small upgrades Ferrari has recently brought to the car have helped, but they are not enough to keep up with Red Bull. Ferrari still needs to bring more new parts to reach that level, the Monegasque told reporters, including Motorsport.com, after the race in Singapore.
Singapore: second place, but at a distance
On October 11, Leclerc started from second on the grid at the Marina Bay Street Circuit and got away well, but Verstappen defended the lead into the first corner. In the opening laps, the Ferrari stayed within six tenths of the Red Bull at times, which unlocked Overtake Mode for Leclerc. It was still not enough for a real attack, and as lap 7 began the gap started to grow again. Shortly afterward, a first Virtual Safety Car neutralized the field after Gabriel Bortoleto stopped his Audi with a suspected gearbox problem.
From there, Ferrari split its strategies. Leclerc set the direction himself over the radio: Plan C, the opposite of Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton took fresh soft tires on lap 19, while Leclerc did not stop until lap 25, one lap after Kimi Antonelli, rejoined just ahead of his teammate in fourth and soon set what was then the fastest lap of the race. When Lance Stroll stopped his Aston Martin at Turn 15 with a suspected clutch problem, Leclerc used the second Virtual Safety Car for another stop. On lap 46 he passed Hamilton, whose tires were fading, and moved up to second.
By then, however, Verstappen was already around 15 seconds up the road. Leclerc chipped away roughly half of that before the checkered flag and finished 7.335 seconds behind. Antonelli completed the podium, while Hamilton dropped behind Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to sixth in the closing stages and apologized to the team over the radio. Leclerc himself had no complaints about the strategy: there was not much more to be had that day, he said, apart from perhaps a slightly more aggressive start. That is exactly what makes his assessment so clear. On Plan C, Ferrari was fast enough for second place, but for the win it simply lacked pace.
Sepang: Red Bull as the benchmark on strategy
A week earlier, Leclerc had raised a second point that has little to do with the car. At the Bahrain Grand Prix, held at Sepang this year, Ferrari put both drivers on slicks on a wet track, while Verstappen started from pole position on intermediates and won. Leclerc later clipped Nico Hülkenberg's Audi, pitted for a new front wing and intermediates, and still fought his way back to fourth.
Afterward, he backed the decision he had made together with the team and called it a close call. At the same time, he explicitly named Red Bull as the team that gets those decisions right with both cars most of the time. Ferrari needs to understand what Red Bull does better, Leclerc said, as reported by PlanetF1 and GrandPrix247, among others. It is not a reckoning with his own pit wall, but a clear statement of where the benchmark lies.
What is at stake in Austin
The standings explain why Leclerc's words carry weight. In the constructors' championship, Ferrari is second with 444 points, well behind Mercedes (578) but ahead of McLaren (337) and Red Bull (315). The title is out of reach, and second place is the one to defend. In the drivers' standings, Verstappen is now only six points ahead of Leclerc, 221 to 215, and Red Bull currently has the momentum.
In Austin, Ferrari wants to push back. According to reports from specialist outlets such as Scuderia Fans, the Scuderia will bring its fourth and final major upgrade package for the SF-26, with changes to the floor, sidepods and upper bodywork. Nobody should expect a revolution, as the technical department has long been focused on the 2027 car. Whether the package delivers the step Leclerc is demanding, the Circuit of the Americas will show.
