Leclerc: “The Ferrari SF-24 won't have much news in Melbourne”

In Australia to optimize the Ferrari SF-24

In 2022 Charles Leclerc in Australia he dominated the weekend by defining the F1-75 at the end of the race “a beast”. At that moment the Monegasque seemed in control of the championship with two wins and a second place in three races against the two retirements of Max Verstappen, winner in Saudi Arabia. No one at that time could have hypothesized that Leclerc would win only one of the next 19 races, 14 of which were won by Verstappen.

The 2023 edition was short to say the least for Charles Leclerc, who ended up in the gravel on the first lap after risking an overtaking move on the outside of Lance Stroll. The SF-23 has been a big disappointment since winter testing and the technicians were needed Ferrari a few months to find the right corrective measures which found their definitive reward in the SF-24 which highlighted the greatest performance leap in the comparison between the 2023 and 2024 cars.

For now, Red Bull is still unbeatable in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The current balance of power which sees the RB20 holding a 3-4 tenths advantage over the SF-24 in terms of race pace could be called into question by the updates (Ferrari could catch up just as Red Bull could even go further). A discussion on upgrades, which however will not be topical in Australia according to Charles Leclerc: “I don't think we will have much news in Melbourne – explained the Ferrari driver in the press conference at the end of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – without updates we will focus on maximizing the package available. We have made progress in Saudi Arabia, but for the step we need to get even closer to Red Bull we have to wait for the news to arrive and see what kind of step forward we will make.”