Charles Leclerc, the driver from Monaco, secured third place in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which took place on March 9, 2024. Leclerc believes that Ferrari has shown the most improvement among all Formula 1 teams in the past six months. This result mirrors Carlos Sainz’s performance in Bahrain, as Ferrari once again proved to be the closest competitor to the dominant Red Bulls. Starting in second position, Leclerc faced a challenge from Sergio Perez in the opening corners but managed to hold his ground and maintain his position. However, Perez ultimately overtook Leclerc on the fourth lap and widened the gap to finish the race 10 seconds ahead. Leclerc acknowledges that Ferrari’s slower top speed is a disadvantage and questions whether their decision to use the same rear wing configuration as in Bahrain was the right choice. Despite encountering obstacles such as a Safety Car intervention and slower cars on the track, Leclerc and the Ferrari team made the most of their performance.
“We faced difficulties throughout the initial stages of each tire change, whether it was at the start of the Medium compound or the start of the Hards. We struggled to activate the tires.
Towards the end of the stint, we managed the Medium tires quite well, but we didn’t experience the same improvement with the Hards.
We did notice some progress towards the end, but it was too late to fully recover from the setbacks we faced earlier in the race. Overall, it was a positive race.”
Ferrari has had a significantly better start to this season compared to the previous one, during which they dealt with a challenging car that was sensitive to wind.
However, a change in concept mid-season propelled Ferrari up the rankings, resulting in their only non-Red Bull victory last year and finishing just three points behind second place.
The team has carried that momentum into 2024 with a more adaptable car compared to its predecessor. This has raised Leclerc’s optimism about closing the gap to Red Bull.
“I believe we are making gradual progress in the right direction,” he stated. “If I reflect on the past six to seven months, we have been the team that has shown the most improvement. We are slowly narrowing the distance.
The gap is still quite substantial, but if we continue working in this manner, it’s only a matter of time before we start putting more pressure on the Red Bulls.”