Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton lament lack of Ferrari power at Japanese Grand Prix
F1 Grand PrixSunday, 29 March 2026 at 17:54
Charles Leclerc delivered another composed podium at the Japanese Grand Prix but admitted Ferrari’s underlying deficit remains clear, with the power unit identified as the team’s biggest weakness, while Lewis Hamilton endured a frustrating race lacking pace.
Leclerc fought hard throughout, managing pressure and strategy to secure third place despite the disruption of the Safety Car: “It was a bit of a sweaty one. Obviously, the Safety Car, we got a little bit unlucky. From that moment onwards I knew I was a little bit on the back foot.
“I was like, okay, let’s keep pushing, let’s try to keep those tyres and bring them to the end. Actually, it wasn’t as much of a disadvantage as I thought. The tyres were pretty good. It was quite a fun race, just not quite enough to get Oscar.”
Leclerc’s race was defined by his defence against George Russell, navigating both strategy and radio games in the closing stages.
He revealed the tactical battle behind the scenes: “It was quite tight at some points, and they were also being quite cheeky because I think his engineer was telling him things on the radio. My engineer was telling me what his engineer was telling on the radio, but he was doing then the opposite and that put me under quite a bit of pressure."
Leclerc: We need to improve the power unit
Leclerc continued: “At one point they told me he was going to use everything on one straight, and then for four laps he was doing the opposite. I understood it pretty quickly and I could defend.”
Despite holding position, Leclerc acknowledged Ferrari lacked the pace to challenge ahead, particularly against Oscar Piastri: “Oscar was very strong, especially in the first lap. I was very surprised at how much he pulled away.
“I was just trying to be as close as possible to him, but he had a bit more pace and I thought also that free air was making a big difference.”
The bigger concern remains structural. Looking at the opening phase of the season, Leclerc was direct: “There’s a clear thing that we need to improve and this is surely the power unit.
“There’s not only that. There’s putting the tyres in the right window, there’s the aero, there’s the chassis, and on that we’ll work flat out to close the gap. But yes, I think the power unit is maybe our main weakness at the moment.”
Hamilton: I just didn’t have the power
While Leclerc maximised the package, Hamilton endured a far more difficult race, repeatedly pointing to a lack of power as the defining issue. He was blunt in his assessment: “Pretty terrible ultimately because I was P3 and I ended up going backwards. I just need to understand where I was losing all the power.
“I had a real lack of power, particularly in the second stint. I’m full gas, managing where I’m asked to manage and for some reason just lacking power, so I need to figure out if there’s something wrong with the car.”
The problem persisted even on fresh tyres, leaving Hamilton unable to compete: “I had a really good stint of managing the tyres and then just didn’t have the pace to keep up.
“It’s never fun when you’re just barely holding onto a pack. When I got the fresh tyres, I still couldn’t. Power-wise, I couldn’t stay ahead of people, which was really confusing.”
Despite scoring points, the seven time World Champion admitted the weekend raised more questions than answers: “The focus now is on understanding why and finding ways to improve. We’ll use the time to analyse every detail and make sure we come back stronger.”
Vasseur: Performance must come from everywhere
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur underlined that the deficit is not isolated to a single area, even if straight-line performance remains a clear weakness.
He explained the difference between his drivers: “Lewis complained a bit more than Charles about the tyres, and I think it was also the effect of the overtake mode. When you lose more than a second, you also lose the slipstream effect.”
On the broader picture, Vasseur was clear: “Performance comes from everything. We need to work on aerodynamics, tyres, setup, every aspect. We have a straight line deficit, but it is almost frozen. If we focus on only one element, we lose overall pace.”
He also pointed to execution and development as key areas: “All parameters are still on the table. Preparation laps, setup, tyres. We still have this potential to exploit. We are at the start of homologation, and there is a greater development potential compared to last year.”
Ferrari leave Suzuka with a third consecutive podium through Leclerc, but the gap to Mercedes remains evident. Vasseur acknowledged the benchmark: “In qualifying, they have maybe five or six tenths, but in the race the gap is smaller.
"When you are in a battle, you can use the slipstream and stay with them. If we want to be ahead, we need to take a small step. That is our next objective," declared the Ferrari boss
For now, Suzuka reinforced a familiar picture. Leclerc continues to extract everything available, Hamilton is searching for answers, and the Scuderia still have a clear performance gap to close before they can truly fight at the front.
(Reporting by Agnes Carlier at Suzuka)
(Reporting by Agnes Carlier at Suzuka)
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