Leclerc Cautious Despite Ferrari’s Monza Win: ‘Upgrades Not Enough for Season-Long Dominance

Charles Leclerc cautions that Ferrari's recent improvements are ‘insufficient’ to ‘secure victories for the remainder of the season’

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

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

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

Prior to Piastri's second pit stop, Leclerc trailed by five seconds, underscoring McLaren's superior speed at Monza.

Ferrari unveiled a major update 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 proceed with care,” he mentioned. “Following Monaco, I believe we experienced the four most challenging races of the season, as Monaco's conditions were uniquely suited to our car at that moment. Monza, too, is a very distinctive and specialized circuit.

"A lot of straight sections and few turns. We had a specially designed rear wing for this track, which contributed to our victory today. We also introduced another upgrade that I believe has narrowed the gap between us and McLaren, but I don't think it's sufficient to make us the dominant car for the remaining races this season on different tracks."

"We still have a significant amount of work ahead of us, but I'm very pleased to have achieved this 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' standings, Ferrari trails Red Bull by only 39 points.

However, Leclerc has minimized the high hopes, pointing out that there was similar speculation about a championship bid after his victory in Monaco.

"This weekend, we performed exceptionally well, but Baku may present a completely different challenge, and Singapore will be distinct once more. Therefore, we need to adjust our approach. We successfully made adjustments from Monaco to Montreal, but as demonstrated, the shift from Monaco to Montreal was quite significant from one weekend to the next."

“We experienced some of the toughest races of the season, primarily because we were trying to figure out issues with our car. Hopefully, we won't encounter several more challenging races ahead, and I believe that won't happen.”

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

“Have we made progress? Yes. Is it sufficient for winning races for the rest of the season? Not yet, but we've definitely moved in the right direction.”

Discover More

Breaking News

Breaking News

Site Map

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

It is prohibited to reproduce the text, photos, or illustrations, either in whole or in part, in any manner.