Since the Monaco GP win, Ferrari has been slipping down in the pecking order. The team thought it was due to their 2024 Spanish GP floor upgrade, which worked as expected but had troublesome side effects. The Italian outfit reverted to their Imola-spec version of the SF-24 in Silverstone to counter these complications. However, Charles Leclerc has pointed out that their overall lack of pace relative to their rivals is holding them back.
Motorsport Week quoted the Monegasque as saying, “I think the picture was very similar to what we expected yesterday. And yeah, we are just lacking some pace at the moment… But apart from that, there wasn’t much more on the table.”
Leclerc has not had the best run of results since winning in Monaco. The #16 driver has been vocal about this wretched run and stated that Ferrari have “lost pace”, which is the root cause behind their struggles.
He added, “So, we’ve got to work because obviously, it’s clear that we are lacking some pace against McLaren and Red Bull. And we are pretty similar with Mercedes”.
Optimizing our performance in Hungary, focus shifts to a long race tomorrow #HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/36RgfZ8lbN
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 20, 2024
In Hungary, Leclerc could only qualify in sixth place. The Monegasque lost crucial time in the last corner of the lap throughout qualifying, as the car was visibly quite unstable there. However, he was already on the back foot because of the track’s ever-changing conditions.
The intermittent rain proved to be difficult to tackle and extract more lap time in qualifying. Despite that, Leclerc believed they could’ve only managed P4-P5 at best, even after pushing the car to the limit. However, they may be able to extract more from the SF-24 under favorable conditions during the race.
Leclerc outlines the conditions in which they can catch the cars in front
Leclerc and Co. were put at a disadvantage under cooler conditions at the Hungaroring on Saturday, which handed Mercedes a clear advantage. However, under drier and hotter conditions, the 26-year-old believes they can gain an advantage over the cars running in front.
Leclerc highlighted how tire management under hot conditions will give them an advantage. He suggested, “With the warm weather it might change and obviously the tire management will be a big thing. So, we’ve got to work on that and prepare for that”.
Luckily for him, the weather is expected to be warm during the race according to the forecast. In fact, there’s an excess heat warning according to Google, due to the recent heat wave in Hungary. If the weather doesn’t throw another curveball, the Ferrari duo could produce a decent result, unlike their struggles since Monaco.
