Leclerc Cautions Ferrari Fans: Monza Upgrade Not Enough for Season-Long Dominance

Charles Leclerc cautions that the latest Ferrari improvements are ‘insufficient’ to ‘secure victories for the remainder of the season.’

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

Charles Leclerc has cautioned that Ferrari must enhance their performance to reliably compete with McLaren throughout the rest of the 2024 F1 season.

Leclerc secured his second win of the season by utilizing a single pit stop strategy, allowing him to surpass McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Prior to Piastri's second pit stop, Leclerc was trailing by five seconds, demonstrating that McLaren possessed the fastest vehicle at Monza.

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

During the FIA press conference following the Monza race, Leclerc advised Ferrari to exercise caution.

"We need to exercise caution," he remarked. "Following Monaco, I believe we've experienced the four toughest races of the season, as Monaco's conditions were uniquely suited to our car then. Similarly, Monza is a very unique and specialized circuit."

“There were many straight sections and few turns. We also had a rear wing specifically for this track, which contributed to our victory today. Additionally, we implemented another upgrade that I believe has brought us closer to McLaren's performance, though I doubt it's sufficient to make our car the dominant one for the rest of the season on different tracks.”

"We still have much to accomplish, but I'm nonetheless pleased to have secured one here in Italy."

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

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

However, Leclerc has tempered expectations, pointing to similar discussions of a championship bid after his victory in Monaco.

"We performed exceptionally well this weekend, but Baku might present a completely different scenario, and Singapore will also be unique. Therefore, we need to adjust our approach. We successfully adapted from Monaco to Montreal, but as demonstrated, the transition between these two weekends was quite significant."

"We then endured several of the toughest races of the season as we tried to figure out the issues with our car. Hopefully, we won't face more challenging races moving forward, and I believe that won't happen."

"However, it's crucial that both the team and external expectations remain grounded and don't skyrocket from one race to the next, as that's simply not realistic."

"Have we made progress? Yes. Is it sufficient to start winning races for the rest of the season? Not quite yet, but we have definitely moved in the right direction."

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