Charles Leclerc secured another second-place finish for Ferrari at the 2026 United States Grand Prix, matching the result he achieved in Singapore and leaving Austin with growing confidence in his understanding of the new Formula 1 cars. The Monegasque believes that starting further forward and spending more time in clean air could have given him a better chance to put race winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli under pressure.
While Max Verstappen had proved untouchable at Marina Bay, Andrea Kimi Antonelli delivered a perfect performance in Texas and gave his rivals little hope of challenging him for victory. Charles Leclerc nevertheless left the weekend encouraged by Ferrari’s progress and by his own increasing confidence behind the wheel.
Charles Leclerc believes a stronger starting position could have changed the fight
“Starting further forward and having more clean air, I could have challenged Antonelli,” Charles Leclerc told Sky. “But in Q3 we weren’t able to do any better, while he was perfect, so he fully deserved the victory.”
Qualifying therefore remained an important part of Charles Leclerc’s assessment of the weekend, even though Ferrari was able to convert Sunday’s race into another podium result. The relationship between Ferrari’s Saturday positions and its Grand Prix results throughout the season can also be followed through the Ferrari qualifying and race performance statistics.
Ferrari progress helps Charles Leclerc unlock the 2026 F1 cars
More encouragingly for Ferrari, Charles Leclerc feels he has made an important step in understanding machinery that he considers significantly different from the cars Formula 1 drivers had previously become accustomed to.
“I’m starting to get to grips with these 2026 F1 cars, which are genuinely very complex and different compared with the cars we were used to driving,” Charles Leclerc added. “For the last two or three races, I feel I’ve unlocked something, and the upgrades have worked as well. We’re making progress and hopefully, from now until the end of the season, we can get a few wins with a view to next year, when I’m sure the others will find something too, so we have to keep pushing.”
The assessment provides another positive indication after Ferrari brought its latest SF-26 aerodynamic upgrades for the United States Grand Prix. With Charles Leclerc now feeling that both his understanding of the 2026 cars and Ferrari’s development are moving in the right direction, the aim for the remaining races is clear: continue making progress and try to turn that momentum into victories before attention fully shifts towards next season.
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