Jul.25 (GMM) Charles Leclerc is not feeling confident ahead of this weekend’s Belgian GP.
The Ferrari driver actually won at Spa-Francorchamps in 2019, and he also saw the chequered flag first earlier this year in Monaco.
But since then, and especially since a new floor was introduced in Barcelona, the Maranello based team has been grappling with the return of the ground effect phenomenon known as ‘porpoising’ or bouncing.
Ferrari made a tweak to the design for Hungary, but even team boss Frederic Vasseur admits he isn’t sure if the bouncing only improved there because the circuit is low-speed.
“Spa will allow us to verify if we have done a good job over the past few weeks to mitigate the side effects in high speed corners of the update package we introduced recently,” said the Frenchman.
“Now we will see if we have fixed it at high speed tracks too,” Vasseur added.
Leclerc, who has generally struggled with the 2024 car more than Carlos Sainz, is not confident.
When asked if he and Ferrari might again be Monaco-like favourites in the Belgian GP or beyond, the 26-year-old driver answered: “If we continue like this with this car, I don’t think so.
“Monaco remains a very, very specific circuit. Just because we were strong there doesn’t mean we’ll be fast somewhere else. So on paper, we’re not favourites anywhere.”
However, Leclerc admitted that the floor tweak in Hungary last week was a clear improvement. “The understanding of the floor is definitely moving in the right direction,” he confirmed.
“However, the bouncing of the car remains an issue that is difficult to solve. We are making progress, but I expect it to be an issue again at Spa.”
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