Leclerc Confident About Ferrari's Development Direction, Sends Warning To Red Bull

Thursday, 21 March 2024 at 22:30

Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc suggested Ferrari will be putting more pressure on Red Bull "at some point of the season."

Ferrari started the 2024 season as the second-fastest team. While second place isn't where the team from Maranello wants to be, it is important that they've made a bigger step forward than McLaren or Mercedes, for example.

Scuderia is now perhaps even closer to Red Bull in qualifying than at the end of last season, which Charles Leclerc proves with his streak extension of front-row starts.

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However, the Monegasque driver is aware that there is still a lot of work in the background that needs to be done to match Red Bull's race pace. He told the media at Albert Part Circuit:

"We are speaking about maybe four-tenths [of a second] a lap in the race."

On the other hand, the 26-year-old suggested the team from Maranello might have something significant up their sleeve that he knows will help increase their performance.

"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."

Rumors suggest that Ferrari is about to unleash a massive upgrade during Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend, the seventh race week of this season that will take place on 17-19 May.

Leclerc added he is confident that the red will be able to start putting pressure on the team from Milton Keynes, but it won't be this weekend.

"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."