Charles Leclerc Warns Ferrari’s Monza Win Not Indicative of Season-Long Dominance

Charles Leclerc cautions that the Ferrari updates are insufficient for securing race victories for the remainder of the season, stating, "Is it sufficient to claim wins for the rest of the season? I don't believe so yet, but we've made a significant move in the right direction."

Charles Leclerc has cautioned that Ferrari must continue to improve their performance in order to regularly compete with McLaren throughout the rest of the 2024 F1 season.

Leclerc secured his second win of the season by effectively using a one-stop strategy, outpacing McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

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

Ferrari unveiled a major upgrade kit for the Italian Grand Prix, aimed at addressing their issues with car bouncing.

During a post-race FIA press conference at Monza, Leclerc advised Ferrari to exercise caution.

"We need to be careful," he mentioned. "Since Monaco, I believe we've experienced the four most challenging races of the season, as Monaco's conditions were uniquely suited to our car at that time. Monza, too, is a very unique and distinctive circuit."

"There were many straight sections and few turns. We also had a rear wing designed for this track, which contributed to our victory today. Additionally, we introduced an upgrade that I believe has significantly narrowed the gap between us and McLaren. However, I doubt it will make us the dominant car for the remainder of the season on different tracks."

"We still have a considerable amount of work ahead of us, but I'm truly pleased to have secured one here in Italy."

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

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

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

"This weekend, our performance was quite strong, but the conditions in Baku might be quite different, and Singapore will also present distinct challenges. Therefore, we need to adjust our approach. We successfully made adjustments going from Monaco to Montreal, but as demonstrated, the transition between these two weekends involved significant changes."

"We then experienced three or four of the toughest races of the season as we tried to figure out the issues with our car. I am optimistic that we won't face another stretch of challenging races like that in the future, and I don't believe it will happen again."

"However, it is crucial that both the team and external expectations remain grounded and don't skyrocket from one race to the next, as that would be unrealistic."

"Have we made progress? Yes. Is it sufficient to secure victories for the rest of the season? I don't believe so, but we've definitely moved in the right direction."

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