Charles Leclerc produced a top-quality drive to finish on the podium last week in Zandvoort. However, the 26-year-old insists that Ferrari still have obstacles to overcome if they are to win races. Even with Ferrari’s latest upgrade package, Leclerc believes the team are in a tough position.
Charles Leclerc warns of ongoing Ferrari struggles
Ferrari work to reverse their decline
Little more than three months ago, Ferrari were established as Red Bull’s closest rivals.
When Leclerc finally took victory on home soil in Monaco, there was tremendous optimism surrounding the team.
Unfortunately for Ferrari, this success was followed by a sharp decline.
The team’s troubles began in Canada with poor set-up choice, before updates in Spain put the SF-24 outside of its ideal performance window.
Fred Vasseur is still upbeat, especially in regard to the update package arriving this weekend.
Leclerc manages expectations
Despite this, Charles Leclerc believes fighting for wins is still beyond the team:
“I don’t let the last two races change our expectations.
“We are in a difficult moment for the team. We are struggling a little bit with pace at the moment.
“I think we understood quite a few things since Zandvoort, especially on what happened on Saturday, where our performance was quite far from ideal. But on the Sunday, it was a good race.
“In Spa, it was good as well.
“Here, it should be a bit more in the direction of Spa, so hopefully, we’ll be a bit more in the fight for the podium.
“However, for the win – I don’t think we quite have that yet.”
Of course, it is natural for drivers and teams to manage expectations.
This is certainly common practice at Ferrari, particularly as they try to alleviate the pressure of a home race.
This is not to say that Charles Leclerc does not have genuine concerns. Ferrari have lost their footing in the development race, and regaining it will be no easy feat.
Even if Ferrari are successful with their updates, this does not guarantee they will erase the deficit to McLaren.
At the same time, Ferrari should not be written off. With such fine margins separating the top four teams, it only takes a moderate step forward to change the pecking order at the front.
Considering the dramatic changes being brought to the SF-24, there is undoubtedly potential for substantial progress.
With clear skies forecast in Monza this weekend, the Scuderia will have plenty of dry running to collect data and analyse their package.
