F1 | Leclerc: “We don’t know what we’re missing. We struggle on the curbs”

Ferrari has improved, but it’s not enough. After obtaining the best time in the first two free practice sessions of the Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the Reds came back down to earth in the first session with real value in view of the Sunday race, i.e. qualifying .

This afternoon Charles Leclerc was the Maranello team’s best driver on the flying lap, taking fourth place behind the usual Red Bull RB20 of Max Verstappen, but also both of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

A result that clearly shows that yes, the updates have given something more to the SF-24, but it is still not enough to match the performance of its direct rivals, at least on the flying lap. We will only be able to see this in the race tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Reds’ difficulties at the Variante del Tamburello remained and made the difference. That’s exactly where Verstappen built his lead for pole, but the MCL38s also did better.

At the end of Qualifying, Charles Leclerc spoke more precisely than usual about the problems that led the Ferraris to finish fourth and fifth. The preparation of the Soft tire remains a factor, but the aggression of the curbs also seems to be another focal point where Maranello will have to try to find a solution.

“Compared to the others, both Carlos and I were very close and we don’t understand what we’re missing there (at Tamburello). The tire preparation is important, but it’s strange. We’ve tried many things but it’s always the same corners that penalize us” .

“It’s something we know and are working on. It’s not something we’re discovering now. We know that we struggle and we know that one of the Red Bulls’ strong points is how much they can ride on the curbs. I don’t know how much Max took the curbs in the qualifying, but I know that before this weekend he took them a lot.”

Leclerc admitted that he had tried to attack the curbs in a more decisive way, but the SF-24 – at least to date – does not allow you to take certain trajectories which, for other single-seaters, are instead allowed and work with clear results on the lap time.

“I tried to take the curbs, but with our car we can’t do the same thing for now. We’ll look at that, but the trend has been like this for a few races now”, concluded the Monegasque.