Charles Leclerc warns Ferrari won’t be the “favourites anywhere” in F1 2024

Charles Leclerc has offered a dim view on Ferrari’s chances of adding to their last F1 victory in Monaco during the remainder of the year.

Since introducing their Barcelona upgrade, Ferrari have been plagued with bouncing.

It’s been so severe that Ferrari ditched their upgrade package at the British Grand Prix.

Ferrari added a small upgrade in Hungary to help cure their bouncing woes around the floor area.

While they were more competitive as Leclerc finished a strong fourth, they were still the fourth-fastest team in Hungary.

Leclerc is doubtful Ferrari will be the team to beat at any of the forthcoming rounds.

“Not really. I mean, now if we stay like this with our car, I don’t think so,” he said in Hungary, where Crash.net were present in the paddock. 

“Monaco is a very, very specific track, which we were very strong, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll be fast anywhere else during the season.

“So no, I don’t think that on paper we are favourites anywhere.”

Leclerc believes progress is being made with the floor area but expects the issue to continue to plague them at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

“The understanding [with the floor] is there, it’s going in the right direction for sure,” Leclerc added.

“The thing with the kind of issue we are facing is that it’s either on or off, and it’s very difficult to see the improvement.

“Maybe you have it for less time, and what I’m speaking of is mostly the bouncing, but it’s not like you improve the intensity of it, so whenever you have it, you have it.

“So we are doing steps in the right direction, whether it will be enough to not have it, I’m not sure yet, and I will expect that in Spa it can be an issue again.”