Leclerc Issues Warning Over Ferrari's Imola Upgrade

Friday, 17 May 2024 at 18:00

Charles Leclerc downplayed Ferrari's first big upgrade of the 2024 season ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The race at Imola Circut this weekend might be one of the most critical points of the season for the team from Maranello as they plan to introduce a significant upgrade.

Ferrari teased this upgrade for a while now, and the team hopes to consistently challenge Red Bull and McLaren for race wins every single weekend.

However, unless the upgrade is put to real test during the Grand Prix weekend, the team can't be certain whether it works.

Scuderia did have a chance to test this upgrade during filming days last week, but Charles Leclerc told the media that no real data had been collected so far.

"We did a filming day but that was mostly for filming purposes. So for now, we don't really have real data yet."

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Previous words of Ferrari drivers and team principals created massive anticipation for this upgrade package amongst F1 fans, but the Monegasque now tried to downplay the upgrade as he said:

"I know that visually it's a big change, but I would be careful [about] what you see visually to not get carried away and to not have false expectations."

"That wouldn't be good for ourselves. It's a step in the right direction, we believe, [but] it still needs to be confirmed. I'm confident that it is but how much of a step forward it is still remains to be seen."

Moreover, the 26-year-old pointed out that upgrades need to be tested at multiple circuits before a team can be sure they have taken the right direction.

"I don't think we can judge in one weekend. In very few laps, we'll understand whether the package is working as well as what we expected."

"But then we've got to see how it works on other tracks with other characteristics. That is really going to be what will tell us what the other part of the season will look like."

Nevertheless, a victory at a home race in Italy would be a great indicator and the first sign that the upgrade package has worked and Leclerc will do his best to deliver it.