Charles Leclerc Confesses “Something Had Changed” With Ferrari, Causing Drop In Performance

Ferrari started the 2024 season as Red Bull’s closest competitor. The Italian stable brought a major upgrade package to the Imola GP to further bolster the teams’ fortunes. While it added performance, the competitors soon caught up with them. Charles Leclerc now details what caused Ferrari’s performance to drop after their Monaco GP win.

“Before Monaco, we brought a few evolutions to the track, but all the updates were in line with expectations. The car platform in general proved to be very stable, which helped me and Carlos to extract the maximum”, said Leclerc in an exclusive with Motorsport.

The Monegasque explained that Ferrari brought performance upgrades for the Spanish GP to help them in the forthcoming triple header. However, the package induced bouncing in the car. He added,

“From Spain onwards something changed, we brought some innovations to the car that (in the simulations) had shown us good numbers, but on the track, we discovered that the updates were causing the single-seater to bounce.”

| Ferrari are bringing a significant upgrade package to Spain.

It should deliver a good step forward.

➡️ https://t.co/xiB7ycCsNa pic.twitter.com/ufffqKQdwg

— formularacers (@formularacers_) June 17, 2024

The Canadian GP weekend between Monaco and Spain was plagued by poor strategic calls and an engine failure. Carlos Sainz also made an unforced error in Canada and ended up crashing into Alex Albon. Nonetheless, Leclerc detailed how the current spec of the SF-24 isn’t helping him feel comfortable to push the car.

The Monegasque opted for an aggressive setup following the bouncing issue in Spain. However, he wasn’t able to counter the issue and ended up making mistakes with the unfamiliar setup. He finished P5 and his teammate ended the race in sixth place in Barcelona.

Leclerc highlighted that Ferrari faced a similar issue last year and it took them a couple of races to understand the problem. The Scuderia began investigating the issues since the conclusion of the Spanish GP. Although it took the Maranello outfit a little longer, Leclerc points out that Ferrari has a better understanding of the issue now.

The Belgium GP was somewhat of a positive result as Leclerc took pole position after Verstappen’s grid penalty was applied. The Monegasque was able to run at the same pace as the leaders for the first half of the race. Ultimately, Leclerc found himself on the podium after George Russell’s disqualification.