McLaren made a noticeable step forward with their Miami upgrade package, and now Ferrari will be looking to do the same with their own upgrade package, debuting this weekend at Imola.
Charles Leclerc believes the upgrade is a step in the right direction, but stated that he’s managing his expectations until the modified car hits the track on Friday.
“We of course tested the upgrade on the simulator and then we did a filming day, but that was mostly for filming purposes,” he said. “For now we don’t really have real data yet, so we will have to wait and see until we do the first few laps here in Imola.
“I know that visually, obviously, it’s a big change. I will be careful on what you see visually, and to not get carried away, and to not have false expectations as well, because that wouldn’t be good for ourselves. It’s a step in the right direction, we believe, of course. It still needs to be confirmed, but I’m confident that it is. How much of a step forward it is, we will still remain to be seen.
“Obviously the upgrades are done in a way that they’ve been projected and thought about quite a long time ago. So it’s not like we could react to the first weaknesses of the car,” he continued. “It’s just to make it a much better car all around. That was the main target.
“In Fiorano it was for filming purposes, so it’s not like we have tested anything special. It was mostly on the simulator where we could see the first data and feel the first few things. It was small steps in the right direction. Now it’s all to be seen whether in reality we find the gains that we have seen on the simulator, which I hope we do.”
Leclerc added that he expects to get to grips with the upgrades within the first laps of running.
“Honestly, I think to understand whether the upgrade is as expected, we won’t need that many laps, because very quickly we have all the data in FP1 and we can analyse it and see whether it makes sense with what we expected, and then we know if the upgrade is as good as expected, better than expected, or a little bit worse. So we don’t need that many laps.
“The laps are super important, especially for the set-up direction, to change and try different things that are a bit more extreme, that you wouldn’t test on a sprint weekend. That’s going to be very important.
“And then for the upgrade, I don’t think we can judge only on one weekend. As I said, in very few laps we will 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, and that is really going to be what will tell us how the other part of the season will look like.”
Six rounds in, two non-Red Bull drivers have already clinched victory—including first-time Grand Prix winner Lando Norris—sparking hopes for a more competitive season.
Leclerc is still searching for a win to end the drought on his side, having come tantalisingly close at last year’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“It feels better [this season] because at least you have some hope that if you do everything perfect, you actually have a chance to get the win,” he said. “As I’ve always said in the past for me, second, third, fourth, fifth, doesn’t really matter. Only the win matters to me, and that’s what motivates me.
“So when you see that there’s a bit more of an opportunity, that is amazing—not only for us, not only for the team, but also for the fans and people watching all over the world. To see a bit more competition is always nice.
“We’ve seen in Australia, Carlos could make it work. We’ve seen in the last race in Miami, Lando could make it work. And I’m very motivated to make it work here, in Monaco, and everywhere else during the season.
“I go into every weekend knowing that there is an opportunity to win if we do everything perfect. That’s what motivates us, as well as being in a very good, positive moment for the team.”
Leclerc admitted that he’s optimistic about Ferrari’s chances this year: “We have the first upgrade of the year this weekend, so I’m positive and optimistic for the future. Occasions like Miami are not going to be very often this year, so we need to be always there and hopefully take the next one.”
After two consecutive Sprint weekends, Imola kicks off the European leg of the season with a return to the standard race weekend format, during which the team should have ample time to comprehensively test out its upgrade package.
“This weekend, I have three hours of free practice, so a lot more time to test different things,” Leclerc said. “It’s a very different approach. Obviously, on Friday, it’s still as busy, with less to play for, so we can test many different options.
“It’s useful, especially when you are bringing a new package to the track. You can do all the tests that you want in order to make sure that you don’t miss any informations going forward in the season. That’s where we’ll focus most of our attention in the free practice, to understand this new package, to try and extract the maximum out of it coming into qualifying, and then go ahead.”
