Leclerc: Mercedes Showing ‘Potential’ as Ferrari Faces Australian GP Challenges
Charles Leclerc acknowledged Mercedes’ strengthening pace during the second practice session (FP2) at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, suggesting the Silver Arrows are beginning to reveal their true performance capabilities. While Ferrari topped the timesheets in FP1, Leclerc finished fifth in FP2, over half a second behind Oscar Piastri’s fastest lap.
Energy Management and Setup Concerns
A key difference observed between Ferrari and McLaren was in energy deployment, with discrepancies exceeding 10 km/h in certain sections of the track, particularly towards the 9/10 chicane. This suggests differing strategies in battery usage. Leclerc noted the importance of understanding and maximizing energy management, especially with qualifying regulations reducing available energy from 8.5 MJ in practice to 7 MJ.
Leclerc too revealed that the aggressive setup attempted in FP2 did not yield the desired results, impacting the car’s handling. He plans to revert to a more conservative setup for Saturday’s sessions.
Mercedes’ Impressive Race Pace
Mercedes demonstrated a strong race pace during FP2, with both Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell completing substantial long runs – Russell reaching almost 15 laps on the hard compound tires. Leclerc recognized Mercedes’ impressive performance over distance.
“FP1 went well, FP2… I think Mercedes is starting to present their potential a little more and in FP2 we started to observe where we’re missing something compared to them. They clearly seem very strong to me, especially on race pace. I don’t know how much margin they still have on the flying lap, but on race pace at the moment they really seem very strong compared to us,” Leclerc stated. PlanetF1
He continued, “On the race pace [Mercedes] they were really, really impressive. On the flying lap it is difficult to understand how much margin they still have. Oscar did an impressive lap, but I don’t know what they’re doing between the two cars, because Lando is quite far behind.”
Leclerc believes Mercedes, Red Bull, and McLaren currently hold an advantage, stating, “It’s the first race with a completely new car, so there are a lot of question marks, but on the long run you get a little clearer picture of everyone’s performance so far. I hope I’m wrong and that we’ll be much faster tomorrow, but at the moment it seems like Mercedes are one step ahead, and then Red Bull, McLaren and us behind.”
Focus on Internal Development
Leclerc emphasized Ferrari’s focus on internal improvements rather than direct comparison with competitors, particularly at the start of a new technical cycle. He acknowledged the need for adjustments to the SF-26, stating, “There’s a lot of perform to do, but it’s not something I focus too much on: we have a lot of things to improve on our car. In FP2 I tried something quite aggressive which didn’t work, so tomorrow I’ll travel back to a more reasonable window and we’ll see how it goes.”
Despite past success at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit – where he achieved a Grand Slam victory in 2022 – Leclerc admitted to finding the track challenging. ScuderiaFans “There’s still work to do. As I’ve always said, Melbourne and Shanghai are probably the two most difficult tracks for me of the season, and I always struggle a little more, so it’s a challenge. But that shouldn’t be an excuse, on the contrary, I like this challenge and I’ll work hard to turn the situation around tomorrow.”