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Charles Leclerc doubts he has seen the last of the problem which struck during the Hungarian Grand Prix and cost him a podium finish.
After claiming a shock pole position at the Hungaroring, Leclerc was overhauled by the McLaren drivers during the race. His pace dropped so badly during his final stint he was also passed by George Russell and finished off the podium.
Russell later speculated Leclerc’s problem was caused by a tyre pressure change at his final pit stop in order to prevent excessive floor wear on the Ferrari. Leclerc did not confirm the cause of the problem but admitted the team will have to continue to manage over the remainder of the season.
“We kind of know in which direction we need to push,” he told the official Formula 1 channel, “it’s not the kind of thing that we will fix from one race to the other, unfortunately.
“It hurts more once you are fighting for a win, which was the case in Budapest. But it wasn’t the first time we had that issue and it’s probably not the last time.
“But I think we understood what we could have done better and going forward we’ll try to avoid that as much as possible.”
However Leclerc said the team has taken “a positive step forward” since introducing its eagerly anticipated rear suspension upgrade at the Belgian Grand Prix two rounds ago. “Of course the finality of it was difficult to accept [in Hungary] but it’s the way racing is sometimes.
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“But it’s been positive, whether it was Spa or Budapest, it is going in the right direction. For that, we are happy, now we need to conclude on Sunday with a win and I hope that this will be as soon as possible.”
Despite the progress the team has made, Leclerc does not believe they are quick enough to challenge McLaren on merit yet. “I think they are much faster than we are,” he said, “but then there’s Mercedes, Red Bull, ourselves and we’re all very close.
“In the last two races before the break I think we kind of had the upper hand, but let’s see if we keep that going in the second half.
“One target is clear, which is that we want to come back at winning races as soon as possible. Another clear target is that we want to beat both Red Bull and Mercedes in the next few races and for the second half of the season. One thing though is that McLaren remains the team to beat and will be very difficult to beat.”
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