Charles Leclerc
Credits- IMAGO / HochZwei
One of Charles Leclerc’s most iconic wins in F1 came at the 2019 Italian GP with Ferrari, which to date remains the Maranello-based team’s last home victory. Heading into his sixth Monza race as a Ferrari driver, Leclerc revealed that he would love to finish on the top step of the podium again.
2019 was Leclerc’s first year with Ferrari, making his win at Monza particularly special. It was also the last time Ferrari competed in the Italian GP with a car capable of challenging for P1.
However, with upgrades this year, Leclerc is hopeful for a performance that could change that.
“It would be a dream to reproduce what we did 5 years ago,” said Leclerc as per Formu1a.uno. “It will be more difficult than that time but anything is possible.”
Ferrari’s target would be to win at Monza. But with McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull showing much better pace in recent races, the chances for Leclerc and Co. seem bleak.
However, the Italian outfit is reportedly going to bring major upgrades to its home race. If Ferrari can find a couple of tenths of a second with the new package, they could be right in the mix to challenge for the win. “We are in Italy and we have new parts in the car, let’s hope they give us performance to be able to aim for victory,” said the 26-year-old.
While it’s difficult for Leclerc to be overly optimistic about Ferrari’s chances, he could be hoping for a performance similar to the one at the Dutch GP, which pleasantly surprised everyone on the team.
Leclerc asks Ferrari to “understand” unexpected Zandvoort result
Ferrari had a difficult start to the Dutch GP weekend, with Leclerc qualifying in P6 and teammate Carlos Sainz in P11. Before the race, the SF24 looked to be the fourth-fastest car at best. The team admitted that the Grand Prix would be all about damage limitations, as major changes would be coming to the upcoming race in Monza.
To everyone’s surprise at Ferrari, Leclerc—who was aiming for a top-five result—ended up on the third step of the podium. Moreover, the team had no explanation for this unexpected outcome after the race.
Leclerc understood the importance of finding the source of the newfound performance. “When we finished the race, we sought explanations,” he admitted. “It’s great to have a strong performance, but you need to understand why things didn’t go well on Saturday.”
Ferrari later identified the issues from the start of the weekend at Zandvoort, which Leclerc found encouraging.
However, to achieve similar progress towards a victory at Monza, they will need to make significant strides, as Ferrari remains far behind the fastest team on the grid—McLaren.
