Charles Leclerc says Ferrari has been building momentum since last year’s Dutch Grand Prix and the gains in the last six months have created a buzz within the team.
Ferrari was struggling for consistency in 2023 but after the summer break it found improvements, with the team securing five pole positions from nine races after leaving Zandvoort. There was a solitary victory in Singapore in that time as well as Leclerc finishing in the top three of each of the last five races he started — being disqualified from third at Circuit of The Americas and failing to start in Brazil — and he says the energy around Ferrari has been more positive since the end of August.
“Since we started that second part of the season, there was really big motivation from the whole team,” he said. “I remember very clearly the moment we carried out our particular test in Zandvoort in free practice, and we all sat down and we had very clear results in front of our eyes.
“I think that gave a huge motivation to the team because we were like, ‘OK, now we understand what are the weak points of the car, where we need to work, which direction we need to take,’ and from that point onwards everyone has been fully onboard with the directions taken and everything makes sense.
“After three or four races we brought the new floor to Japan and straight away it was a step forward in terms of sensitivities with the wind, but also the front [of the car]. I speak very often about wanting a strong front and that was a step forward as well, and I really hope this [2024] car can follow up the momentum that we’ve had since the second part of last year.
“I don’t think it’s a new optimism right now — I think it already started six months ago — but it’s a good thing to see and it’s exciting for the future.”
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Leclerc was also set for a podium in Bahrain 12 months ago before a reliability issue forced him to retire, and with Ferrari picking up just one top-three finish in the next seven grands prix he says it shows how too much emphasis can be put on the opening round.
“Looking back at the previous years, you always need to wait two or three races to feel how strong of a package you have on different tracks. Sometimes you can have a very strong package on one track and you get to another track and you are struggling much more.
“We will always have to wait two or three races to see our car in different conditions — different wind, different temperature, different track layout — before actually drawing conclusions of what can be achieved that season. But of course we will have a good picture of where we are at after the first race.”