Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc believes that the Italian side could soon close the gap with Red Bull, putting pressure on their rivals. However, in Melbourne, the Scuderia will not have any updates and will have to maximize the package at its disposal.
A Ferrari as the second force in the championship is good news, but only for the start of the season. It’s clear that a team of the caliber of the one from Maranello cannot be content with being the best of the rest but must always aim for the highest.
The first two races of the 2024 Formula 1 season have been clear: only Red Bull is stronger than the Scuderia. But, as mentioned, this is not enough and cannot even be a meager consolation. This is a starting point, but the aspirations and expectations of the Prancing Horse personnel remain as high as possible.
Charles Leclerc, after securing the first podium of the season in Jeddah, has expressed cautious optimism about Ferrari’s chances of recovery during the season, even though the first components for the SF-24 developments will not arrive in Melbourne, the venue for the next race scheduled in just over a week in Australia.
“We are making small steps in the right direction. The gap to Red Bull is still significant, but if we continue to work like this, I am sure it will only be a matter of time before we put more pressure on Red Bull.” – the Monegasque driver pointed out. “I don’t think we will have many updates on the car in Melbourne, so for now, we will just have to maximize our current package. At the moment, that’s our situation. I think we’ll have to wait and see when we have new components for the car and what kind of progress we make. Hopefully, this will bring us closer to Red Bull.” – the Ferrari driver continued.
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Like team principal Frédéric Vasseur, Charles Leclerc believes that Red Bull’s advantage over the Maranello team is about 3-4 tenths per lap. A margin much smaller than what we saw last season but still significant in Formula 1, enough for the Milton Keynes team to secure two one-two finishes in the first two rounds of the season, which were held in Sakhir and Jeddah.
“At the moment, Red Bull has an average of 3-4 tenths over us. And in Formula 1, 3 or 4 tenths are a lot in the world of motorsport. However, if you consider every component of the car, if the gain is 1 hundredth per piece, then it’s easy to make gains immediately.” – the Monegasque driver added – “In recent months, we are the team that has improved the most because we have worked very well, and we have to continue to do so. It is very clear which areas we need to work on. I am sure our moment will come. I don’t know what Red Bull has in store in terms of upgrades, but this will determine when we will be able to match them,” concluded Charles Leclerc, ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
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