Charles Leclerc admits McLaren’s rear wing “is controversial to say the least” | 2024 Singapore GP. Charles Leclerc did not hold back from commenting on McLaren's rear wing in Singapore.

The disappointment of last week’s missed victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku circuit seems to have been put behind. Charles Leclerc knows that in Singapore, he might have another opportunity to claim his third win of the season after victories in Monaco and Monza, but he doesn’t want to approach the weekend with the wrong expectations.

First of all, Ferrari will have to understand how and how much the updates brought to Monza will work in Singapore. So far, the new components have done their job, helping the SF-24 win and secure podiums, always fighting for success between the Monza and Azerbaijan tracks.

Charles Leclerc, however, tempers enthusiasm. To truly understand how much the updates make a difference on track, Ferrari will have to wait for traditional circuits. The first of these will come in a few weeks, in Austin.

“It’s hard to say today whether the updates we introduced in Monza will also work here. The numbers we are seeing are what we expected. They should be good. But we won’t have the right answers until we see the gaps to McLaren and Red Bull on normal tracks.” – the Monegasque driver explained.

“We’re racing on very specific tracks and on circuits where even in the past, Ferrari was fighting for victory despite not being competitive for the entire season. So, we’ll better understand how well the updates are working only in Austin.”

Thanks to a win and a second place in the last two races, Charles Leclerc has recovered points on Max Verstappen. The gap between the two, however, is still large, and according to the Monegasque driver, the balance will only depend on Max. Only he can lose or win it.

“I believe the title depends on what Max does. Even if everything goes well for us from here to the next races, I think it will be very difficult for us to fight for the Drivers’ title. I’m not thinking about it, I’m taking it race by race to maximize points for the team. The worst thing we can do at this point in the season is to have the wrong expectations.” – the Ferrari driver continued, ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.

“As I said before, we’re facing very specific tracks. We’re doing well, I hope the situation stays similar after Singapore, but I believe McLaren and Red Bull will return to a certain level of performance on traditional circuits. McLaren has never lost it, but I think it will remain the car to beat, while Red Bull will improve. We must have the right expectations to avoid running into difficult weekends.”

It’s impossible not to talk about the recent case, that is, McLaren’s rear wing which, thanks to research done by the Woking engineers, generates a kind of small DRS effect even with the wing profile not activated.

“I think Fred [Vasseur] will go on that matter a bit more into detail, but from what I have been told, it is controversial to say the least. I will leave that here and I will let Fred comment it a bit further.”.” – Charles Leclerc concluded at the Marina Bay street circuit.