“This year we have made great progress, especially in tire management, and we need to keep going.” This is how Charles Leclerc sounds the charge on the eve of a crucial weekend for him and Ferrari, who are called to confirm the progress made in recent months on a track that has historically been tough for the Maranello team.
After the updates to the floor and rear wing introduced at Monza, and the new front wing brought to Singapore, the SF-24 will need to show maturity at the Texas circuit, particularly in the snake section of the first sector. However, the Monegasque does not fear the long, fast corners of COTA: “We understand what we need to do with the car to get faster. Now we need to implement it in the form of improvements. The competition is strong. McLaren, in particular, is extremely impressive.” – the Ferrari driver pointed out.
“The goal is clear: we want to score as many points as possible. I haven’t ruled out the Constructors’ win yet, and if we perform as well as we did in Monza and Baku, we can still make it. But everything has to go right. We’ve had three races on atypical circuits—Monza, Baku, and Singapore. Now we want to find out here in Austin how well all the improvements to the car work on, let’s say, more traditional circuits.” – the Monegasque driver continued ahead of the United States Grand Prix weekend – “Here in Texas, I expect McLaren to be ahead, with Red Bull close, and then we should follow on equal footing. I don’t see us as favorites, rather as challengers.”
“We haven’t made any significant improvements to the car. We just want to explore better what we already have. We’ve gathered a lot of data in recent weekends, which should be enough to develop a good setup even with limited time. We only have one free practice session, then we’ll already be moving on to sprint qualifying.”
Finally, Charles Leclerc added: “At Monza, Baku, and Singapore, we didn’t get a full picture of our improvements, so I expect more from the work in Texas, Mexico, and Brazil. Of course, this also sets the direction for next season. We believe we are on the right path.” – the Monegasque driver concluded.
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