This is not one of those articles that tries to take a strong position on the mistake made by Charles Leclerc in the closing stages of last Sunday’s race. It is not an article that aims to defend the driver, nor one that intends to criticise him for the error he made. Instead, we want to focus on the disappointment experienced by the Ferrari driver during the post-race period, which revealed a very different kind of admission of guilt compared to usual.
The Monegasque is well known for always acknowledging when he makes a mistake, sometimes even being criticised for being too self-critical. However, this time, there was something different. In his eyes after the race, there was no real sense of regret for the mistake itself.
The reality is that, once again, the Prancing Horse arrived in Miami with high expectations linked to the upgrades brought to the car in Florida, and once again, it leaves the weekend as the team that made the smallest step forward. McLaren is clearly the team that has made the biggest improvement. Lando Norris showed he could stay right on the gearbox of the W17 on Sunday, while Red Bull appears to have rediscovered its Verstappen. The performance of the RB22 has also improved, so much so that Max managed to finish fifth despite a five-second penalty and a mistake at the start.
The fear of living the same movie all over again
In all of this… where is Ferrari? Lewis Hamilton was only able to beat Isack Hadjar among the top-team drivers over the weekend, and he finished ahead of Leclerc in the race only because of Charles’ mistake. Up until that moment, the Monegasque had managed to stay in the fight for a podium position right until the final lap.
In the post-race moments, what we saw in Charles’ eyes was not disappointment for the error itself, but rather the frustration that, once again, and perhaps even this year despite all the effort, mistakes will not truly be “paid for” in the way a championship-contending season demands. Leclerc wants to fight for the title, and if that is not possible, then finishing second, third, or twentieth ultimately loses meaning.
Of course, it is still too early for such conclusions. There is still time. Soon, more will also be known about the 2026 power unit performance index and whether Ferrari will have the opportunity to use the ADUO system to reduce the gap to Mercedes. There is hope, Charles believes in it, and the Scuderia believes in it too. Nothing can or should be taken for granted at this stage. Formula 1 has taught us that great comebacks are always possible in recent years.
However, Leclerc may already be thinking about the possibility that even in 2026 he might not be able to truly regret the mistakes he makes along the way, simply because he may still not be in a position to fight for the championship. The fear is slowly emerging of living through the same movie all over again.
