Charles Leclerc identifies gap to McLaren (and Red Bull): “They do something strange” | 2024 Imola GP. Charles Leclerc analyzes the Imola race and identifies the main weaknesses of the SF-24.

Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Leclerc grabs a podium finish at Imola: the SF-24 car is competitive in the race and inspires confidence, but there is still work to be done on a particular aspect.

Inconsistent race pace? Charles Leclerc analyzes the Emilia Romagna race: “Honestly, I think my pace was the most consistent of all. I had a low 1:20 pace throughout the race. The others had a bit of a stranger race: maybe McLaren with Lando was more conservative at the beginning, but Oscar was pushing, and consequently, I had to attack too,” explains Leclerc about the stint with Hard tires. “The tire I used at the beginning obviously couldn’t be recovered at the end,” recounts the Ferrari driver.

Ferrari did the maximum. Charles Leclerc is sure of it: “I have no regrets because we did everything we could. We had to try something different, we pushed in the first part of the race. Then we lacked the pace of McLaren, which was very strong at the end of the race.” – he pointed out.

McLaren and Red Bull, particular engine strategy: Charles Leclerc’s analysis
“I am more confident than yesterday, even if I am not happy with today’s result,” says Charles. The Maranello car is clearly improving on race day, but it still lacks single-lap pace. Leclerc looks at the gap with McLaren in qualifying: “Yesterday I didn’t know where I was losing time in the first sector. Looking at the data, there’s something strange that Red Bull and McLaren do with the engine strategy.” – the Monegasque driver pointed out.

“We lose time on the start/finish straight, we lose everything there,” observes the Ferrari driver. “Then in all other corners, we are faster or at least equal. We need to look at that factor, plus Max also had a slipstream in qualifying. But this issue will also be fixed. Once that’s done, well, we’re competitive in the race,” continues Leclerc. At Imola, overtaking is not easy, and #16 experienced this in the chase of Norris: “Even Lando, once he got behind Max, couldn’t get close enough to overtake him.” – the Ferrari driver continued at the end of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc then concludes on a positive note: “I would add that Imola is probably not the right track to fully judge our updates.”

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Source: f1ingenerale