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Leclerc believes in updates: 'With this we need to be more consistent'

Leclerc believes in updates: 'With this we need to be more consistent'

01-06-2023 19:37
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Toby McLuskie

Ferrari has not managed to get the car into optima forma this season (yet). In a year when the world title was actually the objective, Ferrari is alternating each race weekend with Mercedes and Aston Martin to see which team is best behind Red Bull Racing. Charles Leclerc would like to change a key feature of his car, he told GPblog and others in the run-up to the Spanish Grand Prix.

The biggest problem? The Monegasque, who, partly because of a penalty in qualifying, grabbed next to a podium finish at Monte Carlo, says: "At the moment, the thing is that we have an extremely picky car that, in qualifying on the one lap pace with new tyres, the wind that we know exactly how to drive the car, it's OK.  As soon as we go a little bit out of those conditions, we lose so much downforce overall."

'Discovering the true balance of power'

Ferrari will bring to Barcelona several updates. In particular, the point raised by Leclerc has been the subject of much work at the Maranello factory. So this should help us to not gain that much performance, but to at least be a bit more consistent throughout the weekend, which hopefully will help us to have a better result on the Sunday," he said.

After a series of street circuits, Formula 1 is now back in familiar territory. No track the drivers can dream of like the Circuit de Catalunya. Moreover, the circuit is an excellent gauge to really experience what the balance of power is. "It's really important, especially because Barcelona is known for probably the best track to understand exactly where you are with the car. So I think it's really good to have these new upgrades here and to understand where we are, and so we can confirm still our weaknesses, I think, in our mind. Even though we've had very different tracks, it's very clear to us where we need to work. And that is mostly on race pace and having a car that is a bit easier to drive. And now, I think, is the perfect track to see whether this upgrade is going in the right direction."