Dakar Rally News: Ferrari’s Leclerc Remains Optimistic Ahead of Austrian GP
Ahead of the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has denied that there is a “trend” behind the team’s recent performance slump in Formula 1. Leclerc remains confident that the Scuderia can bounce back and fight at the front of the grid this weekend.
Leclerc ended his win drought at the Monaco Grand Prix last month, securing Ferrari’s second victory of the season and reigniting hopes of a potential title battle. However, the Italian marque has struggled to maintain that momentum, failing to secure a podium finish since then.
Despite the team’s recent setbacks in Canada and Spain, Leclerc has dismissed the notion of a developing trend. He argues that Ferrari’s lacklustre pace in Barcelona was more a result of not fully optimizing the updated car, rather than a fundamental issue with the setup direction.
“I don’t think it’s a trend,” Leclerc said. “In Montreal, I think we’ve identified quite well what was going wrong, and it was more down to the tyres. In Barcelona, I think it was just raw pace and we’re just slower than what we expected, but I don’t think we didn’t optimise our package.”
The Monegasque driver believes Ferrari can return to the front fight at the Red Bull Ring this weekend. Leclerc has admitted that the team is missing around two-tenths of a second to challenge the likes of McLaren and Red Bull on traditional circuits, but he is confident that this deficit is within the SF-24’s capabilities.
“Well, I get the gap that there was from us to pole position, which was two or three tenths in Barcelona,” Leclerc said. “However, I feel like the potential is in the car, we just need to optimise our package and then we’ll be back to where we want.”
Leclerc has revealed that Ferrari has been struggling primarily with the long, slow-speed corners in Barcelona, which he believes will be less of an issue at the Austrian circuit. The Dakar Rally veteran is optimistic that the Red Bull Ring’s track layout will better suit the Scuderia’s strengths.
“We’ve been struggling mostly with long, slow-speed corners, which here they are a little bit less, so that’s a good sign for us,” Leclerc explained. “But we’re also working on that in order to have a better car in those corners, which I think we’ve seen some good steps forward in the last few races.”
With the Dakar Rally season in full swing, Leclerc’s comments will be closely followed by fans and enthusiasts of the world’s most grueling off-road racing event. As the Formula 1 circus heads to Austria, all eyes will be on whether Ferrari can recapture its early-season form and mount a challenge for victory.
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