Charles Leclerc expresses assurance in Ferrari’s capability to contend with Red Bull in the latter part of the season.
According to Leclerc, Ferrari’s “clear ideas” regarding enhancing the SF24 will enable them to exert “pressure” on Red Bull as the 2024 F1 season progresses.
Ferrari has initiated the campaign strongly and presently stands as the second-most potent team before the forthcoming Australian Grand Prix weekend. Leclerc and his teammate Carlos Sainz have each secured a third-place finish this season, yet Red Bull continues to maintain a distant lead.
Leclerc perceives that the Scuderia is at least “in a better situation compared to last year, for sure,” although the gap to Red Bull “remains significant.”
“We are speaking about maybe four-tenths [of a second] a lap in the race,” said Leclerc.
“I am more optimistic, not looking at the gap but more looking at the overall situation of the team, the way we are working, and also the way we have very clear ideas on what we need to improve to take steps forward.
“That’s what gives me the confidence that at some point during the season, we will be putting them [Red Bull] more under pressure at some tracks. For now, we see the gap remains too big for us to realistically take a normal win.”
Team principal Fred Vasseur is the driving force behind the “clear ideas” propelling the Maranello-based outfit forward. The recent winter break marked Vasseur’s first full break with Ferrari, and the results are becoming increasingly evident.
“What’s really important for Fred, is to have very clear ideas and to help the team to choose what are the main areas in which we need to work on,” Leclerc evaluated.
“When you look, a weekend is 1000 things that you could have optimized for. Then you obviously need to make it clear that these are the top three things that we need to focus on, and that there are not 20 of them to have all the people on board and pushing for the same thing.
“I think on that, Fred has been very, very clear on which directions to take, and on how it has paid off.”
