Метка: Ferrari

Ferrari bracing for ‘race of survival’ after tough Fuji qualifying

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Antonio Giovinazzi believes Ferrari can best hope to “survive” in Sunday’s World Endurance Championship race at Fuji after a tough qualifying for the two factory crews.

Giovinazzi struggled to 12th in the #51 Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercar in the opening segment of qualifying on Saturday, lapping almost seven tenths off the pace set by Alex Lynn in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

The sister #50 Ferrari driven by Antonio Fuoco did progress to Hyperpole, but the 28-year-old never featured in the battle for pole position either, ending up a distant seventh on the grid.

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Ferrari had a difficult outing at Fuji Speedway in its debut season last year with both its cars finishing a lap down on the winning Toyota, and Giovinazzi fears that the Italian marque is set for another frustrating result on its return to the 4.5km circuit.

Asked to explain Ferrari’s poor showing in qualifying, Giovinazzi told Motorsport.com: “Just no pace. I did the maximum I could do but the car was difficult to drive today in quali. We don’t start from a [good] grid position but it’s a long race so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.

“It was not the pace which we had in Austin and which was better. For some reason last year, we struggled here and same this year. So it’s not our track.”

He added: “We have many cars that are better than us – BMW, Alpine, of course Toyota and Porsche – so it will be a difficult race tomorrow. Let’s survive and see where we will finish.”

The #50 Ferrari shared by Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen is contending for the championship, with the trio trailing the #6 Porsche 963 of Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer by 12 points with two races to run.

#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen

#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Estre qualified the #6 Porsche in fifth place, while the #7 Toyota crew that is level on points with the #50 Ferrari ended up fourth in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi.

Fuoco said that Ferrari’s goal should be to take the battle to its closest title rivals to put itself in the best position for the Bahrain season finale in November.

“As always we are here to try to do the maximum, and tomorrow we try to fight,” he said. “Luckily the competitors which will fight for the championship are just in front of us and we [will] try to fight with them if we have the chance.”

Asked what would be a good result for Ferrari on Sunday, Fuoco said: “Surviving. Try to finish in the top five.”

Pressed further on whether that was realistic, he added: “Not really but always we try to make it work.”

Additional reporting by Gary Watkins



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Ferrari needs more evidence for its high-speed bouncing fix

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Ferrari is still seeking answers on whether its latest floor upgrades have turned its 2024 Formula 1 season around until heading to higher-downforce circuits.

The Italian squad brought a new floor to June’s Barcelona round that induced bouncing problems in high-speed corners, which meant it had to revert to an older specification before applying some temporary fixes to mitigate the problem, seeing it slip down the pecking order.

In Monza Ferrari introduced its latest floor specification, which did appear to work as desired, with the squad in the mix at the front and Charles Leclerc even making a one-stop strategy work to defeat the McLarens and take an emotional win on Italian soil for the Scuderia.

«It’s quite difficult to understand the impact of the upgrade on a track like Monza, because we are in such a different configuration compared to the rest of the season,» Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur said.

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«But at the end of the day, when you see the qualifying and you have six cars in less than one-tenth [two-tenths actually], every single bit makes the difference.»

But crucially, the true test of whether the new Ferrari floor has eliminated high-speed bouncing will come on tracks with longer and faster high-downforce corners.

Monza didn’t feature those, and neither do the upcoming street circuits of Baku and Singapore, so a definitive answer won’t come before Austin’s US Grand Prix in mid-October.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

«We will need to wait for more normal tracks to see if this upgrade has really turned our season around and we’re going to fight for wins from now on or we are going to go back to what we saw in Zandvoort,» said Carlos Sainz, who finished off the podium in fourth.

«I’m honestly not sure. We need more samples on this new floor and we need to go to more normal tracks. I guess the next normal one is Austin because the ones coming up are very particular, Baku and Singapore. Austin will tell us how good we are with this new floor.»

«In Baku there’s not one single high-speed corner or medium-speed corner, it’s all low-speed, very particular like Singapore. So I think we are not going to see how much we’ve improved the car in high-speed to medium-speed corners.»

Leclerc was cautious too, feeling McLaren and Red Bull will still be a step ahead on more downforce dependent layouts.

«The upgrade definitely brought us closer to McLaren, but I don’t think it’s enough to be the car to beat for the rest of the season on other tracks,» he said.

«Singapore maybe could be a strong track for us. On the other tracks, I still feel like we are a step behind McLaren and Red Bull. But we’ve seen that we can be very on a par with McLaren if we do everything perfect.

«We’ve done some steps forward. I think we need some others.»



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Ferrari appoints Mercedes capture Serra as new F1 technical director

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The Ferrari Formula 1 team has appointed former Mercedes engineer Loic Serra as its new technical director on the chassis side.

Ferrari had initially poached Serra from Mercedes in the summer of last year, but due to an extended gardening period Serra is yet to start working at Maranello.

Once he joins the team on 1 October, the Frenchman will become Ferrari’s new chassis technical director, taking over the role vacated by Enrico Cardile in July.

Team boss Fred Vasseur briefly took up the position on an interim basis before working on a technical restructuring, which has now fully taken shape.

In a press statement on Thursday, Ferrari outlined its refreshed technical line-up on the chassis side: «In this new role [Serra] will report directly to the team principal, Fred Vasseur.

«Serra will therefore be responsible for the following departments: Chassis Project Engineering, headed up by Fabio Montecchi; Vehicle Performance, headed up by Marco Adurno; Aerodynamics, headed up by Diego Tondi; Track Engineering, headed up by Matteo Togninalli and Chassis Operations, headed up by to Diego Ioverno, who also continues in the role of Sporting Director.»

Loic Serra, Ferrari Head of Chassis Performance Engineering, Jerome d’Ambrosio, Ferrari Deputy Team Principal

Loic Serra, Ferrari Head of Chassis Performance Engineering, Jerome d’Ambrosio, Ferrari Deputy Team Principal

Photo by: Ferrari

Enrico Gualtieri remains in place in the technical director on the power unit side, overseeing the development of its new engines for the 2026 rules.

Cardile left Ferrari in July after accepting a senior technical position within Aston Martin, where he will join up with technical director Dan Fellows once his gardening leave period ends.

It is also widely expected former Red Bull design guru Adrian Newey will join the Silverstone team as a consultant, with an announcement understood to be imminent.

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At Ferrari Serra will be reunited with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who joins the team ahead of the 2025 season.

The announcement comes in the wake of an upturn in form for the Scuderia after struggling with its latest floor upgrades before the summer break.

Charles Leclerc took a surprise podium at Zandvoort’s Dutch Grand Prix, before gifting Ferrari an emotional win in front of its tifosi at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

Despite McLaren taking over the mantle from Red Bull as the fastest team in F1 right now, Ferrari is hot on the heels of both teams in the constructors’ championship, coming to within 39 points of leader Red Bull and 31 points behind McLaren.

Watch: Why Monza was Ferrari’s Win, Not McLaren’s Loss — F1 Italian GP Analysis



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“Nobody’s perfect” — but Leclerc came close with final Monza stint

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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc produced a stunning 33-lap run of lap time consistency to win Formula 1’s 2024 Italian Grand Prix, which has evoked memories of other such famous moments from motorsport history. 

In the 2022 Mexican GP, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen managed 38 straight laps in the same lap time bracket (1m38s), while the 1983 Le Mans 24 Hours ended with Porsche 956 cars remarkably taking nine of the first 10 positions. 

Leclerc’s second stint at Monza has been compared online to an advert subsequently produced by Porsche that self-deprecatingly referenced its achievement, acknowledging it had not secured a top 10 sweep with “Nobody’s perfect” heading.

In a small parallel, Leclerc, once his out-lap on the hard tyres to rejoin behind McLaren’s Lando Norris had been completed, produced two laps in the 1m24s either side of one in the 1m23s bracket he ultimately needed to preserve his tyres and get to the end on a one-stopper.

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Leclerc then unleashed an impressively consistent run to the flag — with his 33 laps in the 1m23s enough to hold off the two-stopping McLarens coming back from dropping behind and secure a second famous Monza win for Ferrari at its home race. 

Piastri had been told by McLaren he needed to do 1m22.0s to make the catch — but he only achieved this (actually under it in the high 1m21s) in the final two laps of his third stint and he came up 2.7s short of Leclerc.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, battles with Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, battles with Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

When asked about his 1m23s streak by Autosport in the post-race Monza press conference, Leclerc said he pulled it off by solely focusing on not overstressing his left-front tyre amid the major graining factor on both axles for all cars last week on the new track surface.

Ferrari’s ’Monza special’ very low-downforce rear wing was part of how it achieved the required car balance to keep the graining in check, with Leclerc having to avoid pushing too hard with the graining-induced understeer through Monza’s fastest and longest corners — Lesmo 2, Ascari and Parabolica — to keep his left-front alive.

“I could see there was a little bit of graining, and I really didn’t want it to get worse,” he explained. “Otherwise, I knew that this was what would make me lose this race.

“From when I put the hard on the car, that was my only focus. I knew that it was critical to not open this graining too much and we did a really good job. 

“As soon as I had free air, I could change a little bit the balance of the car and put more stress on the rear tyres, which was exactly what I wanted to do. And as soon as that balance changed, I felt like the pace was coming back.” 

Leclerc also said his of final laps, “just like in 2019 [the first time he won at Monza], the last 3, 4, 5 laps it was quite difficult to keep the eyes on the track”.

Team members of Scuderia Ferrari celebrate as Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, 1st position, crosses the finish line

Team members of Scuderia Ferrari celebrate as Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, 1st position, crosses the finish line

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

“I was obviously looking a little bit in the grandstand,” he added. “I could see everybody was standing up and that was really nice to see. 

“In 2019 I remember my mum was also in the grandstand because I didn’t manage to have a paddock pass for her. This year, she actually had a paddock pass, so it’s good. She could watch and experience both things, once in the grandstand and once in the paddock. 

“It’s a very special feeling. I could also see some red smoke at one point. So I knew everybody was super excited, but I also knew that I had to finish the job and that I had to stay on it because Oscar had a really good pace. 

“In the last five, six laps, I felt like we had it. The tyres felt good and I could see that Oscar was not that fast to catch me before the end of the race if I was not doing any mistakes.”



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Ferrari set for Spa WEC appeal hearing

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The FIA International Court of Appeal will rule on the appeal made by the factory Ferrari AF Corse team after it unsuccessfully challenged the decision of the race stewards to restart the Spa 6 Hours on 11 May beyond the scheduled finish time of the race and therefore the provisional results of the third round of the 2024 WEC.

The protest was rejected by the stewards, but Ferrari’s factory Hypercar team exercised its right of appeal the following week. 

The two factory Ferrari 499P Le Mans Hypercars were running 1-2 when the race was red-flagged four hours and 13 minutes into the race. 

The need for extensive barrier repairs prevented the race from being restarted within the original six-hour timeframe but the stewards decided to resume the event beyond the scheduled 19:00 finish. 

A further one hour and 44 minutes of racing — the remaining time on the clock at the stoppage minus the time it took for the cars to line up on the start-finish straight — began at 17:10.

Ferrari ended up finishing third and fourth with its #50 and #51 entries after the winning #12 Jota Porsche 963 LMDh and the second-placed #6 factory Porsche Penske Motorsport entry gained time because they had pitted just before the stoppage. 

Ferrari has re-iterated the position outlined by its sportscar racing boss, Antonello Coletta, when it confirmed it was pushing ahead with the appeal. 

He said that he wanted clarification of the rules for the future.

FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams Podium: Race winner #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Will Stevens, Callum Ilott, second place #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Neel Jani, Julien Andlauer, third place #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye

FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams Podium: Race winner #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Will Stevens, Callum Ilott, second place #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Neel Jani, Julien Andlauer, third place #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Batti Pregliasco, team manager of the AF factory Hypercar team, told Motorsport.com at this weekend’s Austin round of the WEC: “Why are we making an appeal? Because we want to understand if this can happen again because it can affect sporting matters.”

Extending the timeframe in which the Spa race took place was unusual if not unprecedented in the history of the WEC since its rebirth in 2012, but was allowed under the series sporting regulations. 

They state: “If the circumstances so require the stewards may take the decision to stop and/or modify the race time set. 

“This may not exceed the time of the competition [meaning six hours in the case of Spa].”

An explainer sent out by the FIA in the wake of the race stated that the decision to complete the full duration of the race at Spa “ensured sporting fairness for the competitors, who set their strategies for a six-hour race”. 

Ferrari’s protest was ruled inadmissible because the steward’s decision cannot be protested, according to the international sporting code. 

The Jota team has confirmed that it will be represented at the hearing.



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Ferrari AF Corse sneaks past Toyota for win

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In a thrilling finish to Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race on the Circuit of The Americas, a customer AF Corse-run 499P driven by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Robert Shwartzman at Austin took the win after a battle with Toyota. All mere hours after Charles Leclerc’s Italian Grand Prix victory at Monza earlier in the day.

Shwartzman inherited the lead from the No. 7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH with 40 minutes of the race to run when Kamui Kobayashi took a drive-through penalty for a yellow-flag infringement. The Japanese driver, teamed with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, came out of the pits nine seconds behind the Ferrari but quickly made up ground. Kobayashi was still closing at the end, but ran out of time, ending up just 1.7 seconds behind at the checkered flag.

That closeness emphasized a pulse-pounding late stage of the race. Toyota appeared to have a win in the bag as the race entered its final stages, having managed to get the undercut on the yellow Ferrari, which had led the majority of the first two thirds of the Lone Star Le Mans. 

Kobayashi took the wheel for the final two hours and pulled way from Shwartzman, building up a lead of 10 seconds only to lose it as penance for ignoring yellow flags at Turn 11.

The No. 83 AF CORSE Ferrari 499P Hypercar

The No. 83 AF CORSE Ferrari 499P Hypercar

Photo by: JEP

Third place at COTA went to the Le Mans-winning factory Ferrari crew of Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen, and Antonio Fuoco. They lacked the pace of the sister works 499P of Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessasndro Pier Guidi — but the second 499P posted a rare retirement for the factory team. Driveline issues (that followed a collision with an LMGT3 runner that had damaged a wheel rim) and then a spin while Giovinazzi was lapping one of the Peugeot 9X8 2024 LMHs conspired against the team.

Cadillac took fourth — its best result of the season — with the Ganassi-run V-Series.R shared by Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn.

Alpine followed in fifth in the A424 LMDh shared by Ferdinand Habsburg, Paul-Loup Chatin and Charles Milesi. They fought back from an early penalty after Habsburg locked up on the first lap and was penalized for the contact with Bamber at Turn 12 at the end of the long back straight.

The Signatech-run Alpine benefitted from a late penalty for Kevin Estre in the championship-leading Porsche 963 LMDh for a yellow-flag infringement, which left the Penske-run car co-driven by Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer sixth at the flag.

The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar of Earl Bamber, and Alex Lynn

The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar of Earl Bamber, and Alex Lynn

Photo by: JEP

Vanthoor, Lotterer, and Estre fought through the field from 14th on the grid — with Estre surviving a clash with Sebastien Buemi in the second Toyota in the race’s fifth hour. Buemi, on an outlap, made contact with the Porsche as he moved over on the back straight to protect his position. He continued to move to the left, resulting in a second contact. The Toyota sustained a rear puncture and bodywork damage, before being given a 30-second stop-go penalty for causing a collision that left the car 15th and last of the classified finishers in Hypercar.

The best of the WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDhs — the No. 20 car driven by Rene Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde — was also hit with a late penalty of 100s for an energy in infringement. It lost a top-six position as a result, ending up in 13th at the finish.

The LMGT3 class was dominated by the American-flagged Heart of Racing Aston Martin squad. Its Vantage GT3 crewed by Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli, and Alex Riberas crossed the line with almost half a minute in hand over its nearest competitor to take the victory. Bronze-rated James, who’s also Heart of Racing’s team principal, laid the foundation for the squad’s first WEC victory since joining the series last year. The Briton converted pole position in the race lead and raced away from Sarah Bovy in the Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan EVO2.

The No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P failed to finish

The No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P failed to finish

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Heart of Racing’s run to victory was made easier when a clash between the Iron Lynx-run Lamborghini (which Bovy shared with Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting) and the best of the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R (the No. 81 entry driven by Tom van Rompuy, Rui Andrade, and Charlie Eastwood) took both cars from contention.

That allowed the two Manthey-run Porsche 911 GT3-Rs — running 1-2 in the class points coming into the Austin race — to come through to claim second and third positions. All in spite of receiving a Balance of Performance hit and carrying significant success balance.

Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm, and Klaus Bachler took second with 30 kg of success ballast, while the sister car of Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring, and Richard Lietz took third with 25 kg after the Shahin received a drive-through for a track limits violation.

Vanthoor, Lotterer, and Estre still lead the championship on 125 points; Molina, Nielsen, Fuoco and de Vries and Kobayashi tied on 113 points.



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«Tough» for Hamilton to wait until 2025 to work with new F1 race engineer

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Lewis Hamilton will be forced to wait until 2025 to start building a relationship with a new Formula 1 race engineer at Ferrari.

Hamilton had hoped Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, his long-serving race engineer, would follow him to the Italian team for next season, saying he was like his «brother».

However, the British engineer has been promoted to Mercedes’ head of race engineering and will remain with the Silver Arrows.

The terms of Hamilton’s contract with Mercedes prevent him from having technical discussions with his new team until his deal expires at the end of the year. And that has a significant bearing on forming the crucial relationship with his new race engineer.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, Hamilton said he understands the reasons for Bonnington staying with Mercedes, but admitted it will be «tough» starting a new relationship from scratch in January.

He said: «Was I hoping [he would join Ferrari]? I would have loved to continue with him. We have a great relationship. I love him, he’s like a brother, but I’m really, really happy for him.

«For me, I think it’s just about people doing what’s best for you. Packing up and leaving, I could only imagine — it’s not him and his partner. It affects both of them, so they have to do whatever is right for him.

Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari

Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

«I knew it would be an unlikely scenario that he would go with me, because it is such a drastic change in his life. But I’m really happy for us here in the team to acknowledge and make changes to his career pathway, so he can grow more. Either way we’re going to be family forever.

«We’ve spoken about it and we just want to make sure we finish on a high.»

When asked if he could only start speaking to his new race engineer in January when his new deal starts, Hamilton confirmed that will be the case and added: «It’s tough. That makes it really difficult but I think it’s probably the same for anyone moving into a new office. [It will] be a very heavy loaded start next year.»

Ferrari needs to decide who will oversee Hamilton’s side of the garage with the Briton only having worked with a handful of race engineers during his lengthy F1 career.

Hamilton said: «It’s got to be someone you get on with, it’s got to be someone that you ultimately are able to find it easy to build a relationship with and trust.

«And so the next one, that’s going to be a discovery process. We’ll know quite early on whether or not it’s going to work, and I think it’s just about communicating.»

With Bonnington’s switch ruled out, Hamilton was also asked if anyone else would be following him from Mercedes to Ferrari.

He added: «Not that I know of. There’s a few people there that I worked with in the past. There’s someone there that left me a long time ago, so I know him, he’s the one I know mostly there about from [Ferrari boss] Fred Vasseur.»



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Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari only «good news» for me

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Charles Leclerc says it’s «always good news» teaming up with a driver of Lewis Hamilton’s calibre, as will be the case at Ferrari from the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Ferrari signed Hamilton before the 2024 campaign even started, with team principal Frederic Vasseur making the most of an exit clause in the long-time Mercedes driver’s contract to entice him to Maranello.

Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz and become Leclerc’s fourth team-mate in F1, with the previous ones being Marcus Ericsson (at Sauber) and Sebastian Vettel.

The Monegasque is excited about this new challenge, which he sees as an opportunity to learn from F1’s most successful driver in history, as he told Autosport in an exclusive interview.

After praising current team-mate Sainz, whom he branded «such an incredible driver», Leclerc said: «When you have a seven-time world champion joining the team, it’s always good news.

«First, because it’s super interesting and super motivating for me. Super interesting because I can learn from one of the best-ever Formula 1 drivers.

Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, battles with Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, battles with Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

«And second, super motivating because I’m super motivated to show what I’m capable of doing against Lewis in the same car. So, for these two reasons, I’m really looking forward to it.»

PLUS: What to expect from Hamilton at Ferrari

Leclerc had signed a contract extension one week before Hamilton officially made his bombshell move to Ferrari – but the news was no surprise to him, so he knowingly committed his future to the Scuderia.

«I knew that it was a possibility and that it was likely because both sides wanted to make it happen,» he clarified. «But I was happy with that, so I definitely knew that it was more likely than not.

«That was enough for me. I didn’t ask many more details, also, because I’m not entitled to know all of this, and I don’t want to know all of this, but everybody has always been super honest with me.

«If anything, it reassured me even more, because when you take a driver like Lewis Hamilton within the team, it obviously is a strong sign. I think that could be a positive thing seen from our side, and could bring some extremely talented people to the team. So I saw that as a positive, if anything.»

There is an argument that Leclerc has everything to gain from this situation as far as his reputation is concerned. Being beaten by a seven-time world champion could be understandable, while becoming the first driver to clearly outperform Hamilton would obviously be historic.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

However, Leclerc does not quite agree with this particular outlook on the situation.

«As a driver, I will live as bad whether I’m two tenths behind Lewis or two tenths behind whoever else,» he explained. «For me, it’s a pain I am suffering every time I’m behind my team-mate. You just want to be first, whatever situation you are in.

«When I was with Seb, for example, I was hating it so much when he was beating me, even though it was my first year with Ferrari and I knew he had a lot of experience. No matter the situation you find yourself in, you hate it when you are getting beaten.»

Additional reporting by Roberto Chinchero

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Easier taking blame for mistakes at Ferrari under Vasseur

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Frederic Vasseur has changed the culture at Ferrari for the better since taking over as its Formula 1 team principal, according to Charles Leclerc.

Vasseur took the reins of the Scuderia in January 2023 and implemented his trademark no-bullshit approach, after years of Ferrari being criticised not just for lacking performance but also for repeating errors and not always maximising its results under predecessor Mattia Binotto.

The Frenchman’s mindset was exemplified by his interview with Autosport’s Italian edition last May, as he advocated for an approach eradicating complacency: «If you start to be convinced that what you are doing is good, it’s the beginning of the end.»

Leclerc says the dynamic at Maranello has changed in many ways since Vasseur took over, including mistakes and flaws now being acknowledged quicker, which leads to swifter solutions and better outcomes overall.

«I think people have more responsibilities, are put in a better place to be at their 100% and really have the trust from Fred, which is a really good thing,» Leclerc explained exclusively to Autosport.

«Fred has always been super good at putting the people in the best possible condition in order for them to perform at their best. So this is really where it changed, and it’s a change of approach.»

A good example is the relative failure of the floor upgrade implemented on the car since the Spanish Grand Prix, which Ferrari hasn’t been able to maximise due to bouncing appearing as a side effect.

«It took us three or four races, but everyone acknowledged what were the weaknesses of what we had brought on the car,» Leclerc added. «And maybe in the past, it wasn’t as easy as now. So I think we are in a better place in the team.

«We’ve done big, big progress in the last seven to eight months before Barcelona – Barcelona has been a one-off. We have been honest with ourselves and understood where we did wrong. And I’m confident that we’ll come back on the good slope.»

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24

Photo by: Erik Junius

Being arguably the most prestigious squad in F1, under the Italian media’s relentless scrutiny, doesn’t make things easy for the Scuderia.

«The fact that we are Ferrari in general, whenever something happens at Ferrari, it always creates more of a mess than in any other teams,» Leclerc admitted. «This is where we need to be good, that whenever we are in those moments, we just focus on ourselves, try to take the noise away, learn from it and use it positively. But I hope that we don’t have too many of them.»

One recent negative headline was technical director Enrico Cardile leaving Ferrari to join Aston Martin, but Leclerc still reiterates his faith in Vasseur’s vision for the future.

«On that particular subject, I always had 200% confidence and trust in what Fred does,» he commented.

«Obviously Enrico left the team now. I know also that Fred won’t stay [interim] technical director for a very, very long time, and in the meantime, I fully trust Fred to manage the situation in the best possible way.

«I am fully confident as well that it won’t affect the team at the end. It’s more about the group than one particular person. Of course, it’s a situation that we need to fix as soon as possible. But Fred is on it.»

Additional reporting by Roberto Chinchero

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