Charles Leclerc Cautions Ferrari Fans: Upgrades Not Enough for Season-Long Victory Run

Charles Leclerc cautions that Ferrari's latest upgrade is ‘insufficient’ to ‘secure victories for the remainder of the season.’

"Is it sufficient to clinch race wins for the rest of the season? I don’t believe so at this point, but we have made significant progress."

Charles Leclerc has emphasized that Ferrari must improve their performance in order to consistently compete with McLaren for the rest of the 2024 Formula 1 season.

Leclerc secured his second win of the season by utilizing a one-stop strategy, triumphing over the McLaren pair, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Prior to Piastri's second visit to the pits, Leclerc trailed by five seconds, underscoring McLaren's dominance as the fastest car at Monza.

Ferrari unveiled a major enhancement set for the Italian Grand Prix, focused on addressing their bouncing issues.

Nevertheless, during the FIA press conference following the Monza race, Leclerc advised Ferrari to "exercise caution".

"We need to be careful," he remarked. "Following Monaco, I believe we've experienced the four most challenging races of the season. Monaco suited our car's characteristics at that moment. Similarly, Monza is a unique and specialized circuit."

"There were many straight sections and few turns. We equipped a rear wing specifically for this track, which played a key role in today's victory. Additionally, we implemented another upgrade that I believe has narrowed the gap between us and McLaren. However, I don't think this improvement will make us the leading car for the remainder of the season on other circuits."

"We still have a significant amount of work ahead of us, yet I'm thrilled to have achieved this in Italy."

Although Leclerc has faced difficulties since the Monaco race, he is only 24 points behind Norris in the drivers' standings.

In the constructors' championship, Ferrari trails Red Bull by only 39 points.

Leclerc has tempered expectations, referencing previous discussions of a championship bid after his victory in Monaco.

"We performed exceptionally well this weekend, but Baku might present a completely different challenge, and Singapore will likely be distinct as well. Therefore, we need to recalibrate our approach. We managed to do this recalibration between Monaco and Montreal, but as evidenced by the shift from Monaco to Montreal, there was a significant difference from one weekend to the next."

"After that, we experienced three or four of the most challenging races of the season while we were trying to figure out the issues with our car. I'm hopeful that we won't face a similar string of tough races moving forward, and I don't believe that will happen."

"However, it's crucial to ensure that both the team and external expectations remain reasonable from one race to the next, as expecting too much too soon is not realistic."

"Have we made progress? Yes. Is it sufficient to win races for the rest of the season? I don't believe so yet, but we have certainly moved in the right direction."

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