F1 News: Charles Leclerc Confident in SF24’s Progress – A Promising Outlook for Ferrari
Charles Leclerc expressed confidence in the Ferrari SF24’s development, indicating significant improvements and a better start compared to last year. In an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated’s Alex Harrington, Leclerc’s optimism aligns with the team’s enhanced performance and focus on overcoming current challenges.
Key Takeaways:
- Leclerc acknowledges a stronger beginning for the SF24, meeting initial expectations, a notable advancement from the previous year.
- Ferrari has successfully identified and rectified previous issues, allowing for concentrated and effective development of the new car.
- The team is currently addressing challenges with the braking system, identified during tests in Bahrain, ensuring these are resolved to maintain competitive performance.
In his interview, Charles Leclerc shed light on the progress Ferrari has made with their new car, the SF24. He contrasted this year’s positive start with last year’s struggles, where unforeseen performance issues led to developmental delays. The SF24, meeting expectations from the get-go, has set a more hopeful tone for the upcoming season.
Leclerc’s confidence is rooted in the car’s reliability and performance, which closely align with the team’s pre-season goals. This solid foundation is a departure from last year’s setbacks, providing the team the opportunity to enhance the car further.
Leclerc said, “I think first of all we are in a better place compared to last compared to a year ago, where a year ago we put the car on the ground and the car wasn’t behaving the way we expected it to behave. So it was a bit difficult to understand from where the problem was starting, and we have identified that later in the [2023] season. And from that moment onwards, we could focus on the development of the car as soon as we understood what was wrong with this car. Whereas this year, there’s nothing that is wrong with the car.”
However, he did acknowledge some ongoing issues, particularly with the braking system during tests in Bahrain, which are being thoroughly investigated.
“At least it’s doing everything that we expected, which is a good starting point. And we can straight away focus on the development of the car, which gives me confidence that the rate of development will be better compared to last year, so that’s good. Yeah, we’ve had some problems on the braking system on my side in Bahrain, which are still being investigated. We’ll look into it. And obviously, this is a priority to work to resolve.”
Leclerc’s positive outlook, combined with Ferrari’s commitment to addressing current issues, points to a promising season for the team. With the initial races of the 2024 season underway, Ferrari is poised to be a strong competitor against Red Bull’s dominance.
This exclusive interview was facilitated by Shell, a long-standing partner of Ferrari since the late 1920s. Their partnership has been instrumental in the success of both Ferrari and Formula 1 as a whole.
