Charles Leclerc precisely described what he thinks about the current potential of the SF-25: “It’s much better than what we’ve seen so far, but I don’t think it’s on the same level as McLaren.” There is a gap, and the Shanghai weekend will help to understand its extent, but Charles Leclerc disagrees with George Russell’s statement that the current advantage held by McLaren is greater than Red Bull’s advantage in 2023.
“I don’t think that’s the case, but they are definitely ahead. The real gap, I think, is what we saw on Saturday. They are ahead but not by that much. If we look at the Melbourne qualifying, McLaren was very strong in the final sector, perhaps due to tire management, but the race was determined by different factors. We lacked overall performance; we know where we need to improve. In high-speed sectors, we’ve made a big step forward, but we’re lacking performance in low and medium-speed corners.” – he pointed out.
Charles Leclerc deliberately avoided going into specifics about what happened during the Melbourne weekend, but he confirmed that work on this generation of cars is now focused on fine-tuning: “We’re talking about very, very sensitive cars, a small change can lead to a big difference in behavior on track. But sometimes you have no choice but to make certain changes, like what happened in Melbourne.” – he explained.
For Ferrari, it will be very important to continue the work of understanding the car. The Shanghai weekend (even though it’s a Sprint weekend) will be an opportunity to look for answers…
“We saw last year, especially towards the end of the season, how much knowing your car makes a difference. In the final stages of the championship, we dominated in Mexico, Mercedes did in Las Vegas, and McLaren did in Abu Dhabi, and we weren’t in a phase where teams had brought major upgrades to the track.” – the Monegasque driver continued.
“That’s why I’m convinced that, after only one race, it’s really premature to draw conclusions. Melbourne didn’t go as we hoped because we didn’t maximize our car’s potential, we should have done better in that area, and that’s why we’re disappointed. But it’s definitely too early to draw conclusions.”
The Shanghai weekend will begin with sixty crucial minutes of free practice. In addition to the unknowns about track conditions, there will also be the variable of the asphalt.
“We have our data on the new asphalt,” Charles Leclerc explained, “and we expect it to be a significant change. We’ll see if our analysis is correct. Every Sprint weekend is an opportunity, and even more so considering that we’re facing only the second race of the season. In these conditions, the preparation work will be crucial.” – the Ferrari man concluded ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
Leave a Reply