Charles Leclerc points to unleashed Ferrari 'aggression' in rapidly-changing F1 war

Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari's "aggressive" upgrade approach in 2026 is "very impressive" as the team looks to mount a charge for the F1 titles.

The SF-26 machine of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finds itself 87 points behind Mercedes in the constructors' standings heading into the Scuderia's home Italian GP, with Hamilton in a tie for second place in the drivers' standings, 59 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli and behind George Russell only on countback by dint of Russell holding two wins to Hamilton's one. 

Unlike Mercedes, Ferrari has been delivering constant upgrades to the car, including packages in Miami, Barcelona, Austria, Britain, Hungary, and last time out in the Netherlands, with a further engine upgrade, making the most from its ADUO tokens, expected for its home race in Monza.

In contrast, Mercedes has been slow in bringing upgrades, not doing so since May's Canadian GP, with McLaren also reeling in Mercedes. 

However, Leclerc feels the "aggressive" attack from the production office in Maranello and innovative ideas from the design office, such as the Macarena rear-wing and small exhaust tailpipe winglet, mean the team is on a sound footing.

"There is a very clear development programme, and there are still many things that we want to improve," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365.

"It is very clear what the main limitations from the first part of the season are. The engine and power that we have at the moment compared to Mercedes and Red Bull is where we are lacking the most, and that is where our focus is. 

"There's an engine, and a chassis and aero teams, but the programme is set, and we know where we want to go, and that is a good thing. I don't think we've had particularly bad surprises in the first half of the season, which with the previous generation of car, with it touching the ground, was difficult. 

"Sometimes, you wouldn't get what you had in a wind-tunnel, and we don't really have that this year, and that is very positive for the development of future things we want to bring to the car.

"It's very impressive. We've had a very aggressive approach this year compared to others. I believe first in terms of innovation, and I think this is a very positive sign to see that shows that we are innovating and getting out of our way to try and find solutions around the regulations. 

"And second, the aggressive, the very aggressive plan of bringing upgrades. I think production has done an incredible job for that first half of the season to work flat out in order for us to receive the parts as early as possible. 

"It's making a lot of difference in a year like this where we are so early in the development, and every upgrade you bring makes such a big difference, so we'll continue pushing like that for that second part of the season."