Leclerc Cautions Ferrari Fans: Recent Upgrades Not Enough for Season-Long Dominance

Charles Leclerc cautions that Ferrari's latest improvements are ‘insufficient’ for ‘securing victories through the rest of the season’

"Is it sufficient to start winning races consistently until the season concludes? I don't believe so at this point, but we have made significant progress."

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

Leclerc secured his second win of the season by utilizing a one-stop strategy, which allowed him to outperform McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

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

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

During the FIA press conference that followed the Monza race, Leclerc advised Ferrari to exercise "caution."

"We need to proceed with caution," he stated. "Following Monaco, I believe we've experienced the four most challenging races of the season, as Monaco was uniquely suited to our car back then. Similarly, Monza is a unique and distinctive circuit."

“There were many straight sections and few curves. We had a rear wing designed specifically for this track, which contributed to our victory today. Additionally, we introduced another upgrade that I believe has brought us closer to McLaren's performance level. However, I don't think this will make us the leading car for the remaining races of the season on different tracks.”

"We still have plenty to accomplish, but I'm thrilled to have secured one here in Italy."

Even after facing challenges since the Monaco race, Leclerc is only 24 points behind Norris in the drivers' standings.

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

However, Leclerc has tempered expectations, pointing out that there was similar speculation about a championship bid after his victory in Monaco.

“Our performance this weekend has been impressive, but the dynamics in Baku could be quite different, and Singapore will present another unique challenge. We need to recalibrate our approach. We successfully made adjustments from Monaco to Montreal, but as the transition from Monaco to Montreal showed, the conditions can change significantly from one weekend to the next.”

"After that, we experienced three or four of the most challenging races of the season while trying to figure out the issues with our car. I hope we don't face a similar string of tough 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 such expectations are unrealistic."

"Have we made progress? Yes. Is it sufficient to secure victories for the rest of the season? Not quite yet, but we've certainly moved in the right direction."

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