F1 | Leclerc: “We are no longer afraid of making mistakes: we are close”

“The party? It was good, even if I’m not the most partying rider in the paddock, I’d say everything was good. The headache on Monday wasn’t that bad.” Charles Leclerc arrived in Montreal on the positive wave of his home success, a victory that he continued to hold on to. “I rested after a week which overall was very tiring, but by the following Tuesday I was at 100%”.

Leclerc knows very well that Formula 1 runs fast, each race weekend makes the previous one a distant memory and, above all, there is always a new test to pass. What Ferrari will face in Montreal seems to be within reach, but when Charles is told that Lando Norris has indicated the Scuderia garage as the favorite to win on Sunday, Leclerc smiles.

“It’s always like this, one weekend Helmut (Marko) says it, the next here’s Lando, the truth is that no one wants to arrive on the eve of a weekend hearing that they are favoured. And obviously I certainly won’t be the one to say it, better to pass the ball to others. However, it is true that we are very close to McLaren and Red Bull, so I believe that in the end the stage result will reward those who do the best job.”

“Then let’s not forget the variable rain, given that we have not yet driven these single-seaters in wet track conditions. Today we don’t know precisely what the values ​​on the field could be if the rain were to arrive, but if I had the choice I would focus on wet qualifying and dry race. The wet race is always complicated from a strategy point of view, and if you have a good performance you don’t want any further variables.”

Then Leclerc moved on to the Ferrari moment, taking stock of the team’s growth. “I think we have had a very good approach in the last seven-eight months, we have been very quick to address the problems and I think this is the main reason why we are the team that has improved the most today. Then there is the handling of the SF-24, the biggest difference compared to last year, an aspect that conveys a lot of confidence. This weekend we are for the third time in a row on a track that has significant curbs, on this front our car performs well, but I believe that in Barcelona Red Bull will return to the front, even if I hope I’m wrong.”

For Charles, Red Bull is still the car to beat, but Ferrari’s positive trend gives him confidence. “We’re still a step behind them, but we’re not that far away, plus compared to last year we haven’t left many points on the way, which is a crucial aspect. Then we are not wasting time in making decisions, and so far – knock on wood – the choices have very often been the right ones. There is a different attitude, there is no fear of making mistakes, if we are convinced that a direction is the right one we take it even if we are aware that it could present risks. We were probably a little more conservative in the past.”

“There is still work to be done – concluded Leclerc, responding to the fronts on which the SF-24 can improve the most – one of our weak points are the long and slow curves. We had a bit of difficulty in China for this reason, it’s still an area where we need to improve the car. I would say that this is the main area on which we need to focus, then there are other small details, but given the current balance if we add them up they make the difference.”

“Obviously a new package with a little more downforce and a little less aerodynamic drag would be enough to close the gap, because in the end we’re talking about two and a half tenths in the worst case scenario, which is really little, a handful of cents per corner. By optimizing our package we can already gain a tenth, and it would mean halving the gap, but in conclusion if I have to point out the front where we can recover the most are the long low speed corners”.