Charles Leclerc regains confidence ahead of Austrian GP: “We’re on the right path”. Charles Leclerc targets Austrian GP turnaround after difficult run of results.

Leclerc aiming to bounce back in Austria

The Austrian Grand Prix represents a crucial turning point for Charles Leclerc, who is perhaps experiencing his most difficult spell in eight seasons with Ferrari. The Monegasque driver must reverse a negative trend that began with his spin in the closing stages of the Miami Grand Prix and has continued with a series of scoreless weekends, including disappointing outings in both Monaco and Barcelona.

Leclerc’s recent results are far from what he expects of himself. After crashing three times over the last four race weekends, he knows he must respond to growing criticism and get his season back on track. Scoring significant points has become the absolute priority, and the Austrian Grand Prix could provide the ideal opportunity to revive his campaign and finally leave this difficult period behind.

Leclerc’s comments

“In Montreal, and especially in Monaco, we had some problems that turned out to be very difficult to deal with. That’s where I lost a bit of confidence in the car, but not in the package itself. In Barcelona, I regained the feeling I had at the start of the season, and that’s definitely a positive,” Charles Leclerc said, naturally referring as well to the technical breakthrough that came after moving away from the Brembo brake discs.

“I don’t think the last few races have been positive. If I look at things objectively, Monaco and Barcelona both went much worse than they should have on paper. We had technical problems in two consecutive races, and that cost us a lot of points. I can’t go into too much detail about what happened in Barcelona because it all occurred very suddenly. I don’t believe it’s something that should concern us going forward.”

“I think that, in terms of outright competitiveness, Mercedes still has the fastest car. However, in the hot conditions in Barcelona we managed the tyres quite well, so I hope we can maintain that level of performance here too, even though the straights are longer. The Mercedes power unit is currently better, so I expect us to pay a bigger price because of that,” he added.

“That said, the team is in a very good place right now. We keep bringing updates, and that shows our commitment. I think we’ve had more race weekends with upgrades than without them, and that’s a very encouraging sign. I’ve always enjoyed racing at the Red Bull Ring. We haven’t won here for a long time, but in recent years we simply didn’t have the car to do so. Now I have the feeling that we’re on the right path to rediscovering the pace that will allow us to fight for victories again.” – the Monegasque driver concluded.