Charles Leclerc: “The Ferrari’s rebound will be even more visible at Spa”

The Ferrari weekend in Belgium could be more difficult than usual. Faced with a tricky period, with a performance delay compared to McLaren and Red Bull, Monegasque Charles Leclerc anticipates that this Belgian Grand Prix could exacerbate some of Ferrari’s problems, notably that of rebound, which will be more visible according to his own words. This concern is related to the latest developments made to the car.

During the Spanish Grand Prix, the Italian team introduced numerous developments, including revised sidepods, work on the “Cobra” fins, and the rear wing. This package of improvements aimed to enhance the car’s downforce, but it also exacerbated bouncing issues in high-speed corners, a problem that had affected all teams during the new regulations in 2022.

These problems have pushed Ferrari away from the top positions. The Maranello team is now behind Red Bull, McLaren, and sometimes even Mercedes, preventing it from fighting for regular victories.

After a good weekend in Hungary, with a fourth place obtained thanks to the collision between Hamilton and Verstappen and the track configuration mainly made up of slow corners, **Leclerc expects a more difficult weekend in Belgium**. He explains that the issues faced by the team will not all be resolved quickly.

A test for Ferrari at Spa

« Perhaps the bounce disappears from time to time, but it’s not like you’re improving the intensity, so every time you have it, you have it. We are making choices in the right direction. Whether not having it will be enough, I’m not sure yet, and I expect that in Spa, it could be a problem again. »

Leclerc considers that the Spa circuit will be a real test for Ferrari. On a circuit like Spa, I think it’s going to be a real test for us, because it’s probably the circuit where I would expect our problems to be most visible. There, we will see if we have confirmation that there is still a lot of work to be done before we solve our problems, or if the updates this weekend have helped us take a step forward for these circuits.

This Belgian Grand Prix is therefore a crucial step for Ferrari to determine if it is making progress in the right direction with its developments. The team has decided not to go back to the old car setup, the one from Imola, which had been reintroduced during the Silverstone weekend, and to focus on the latest improvements by trying to optimize them better.

Even if he is aware that his team is no longer the favorite on any of the circuits, Leclerc trusts his team, believing that progress has already been made and that the team is working hard to improve the car. According to him, the understanding of the floor is already there, it is going in the right direction.