Charles Leclerc expresses concerning thoughts regarding Ferrari ahead of significant F1 enhancements.

Instead of merely struggling with performance during qualifying and the race, Leclerc contends that Ferrari arrives at race weekends with a well-balanced car, thanks to the groundwork laid by his teammates at their base in Maranello.

“One of our strengths as a team is having a car with a good balance right from the start,” he remarked. “I think our car is somewhat peaky, but we prepare very effectively beforehand on the simulator.”

“The correlation has been quite solid lately, which aids us in doing the simulator work back at home, allowing us to arrive at the track with a strong car immediately and one that I feel at ease with.”

Franco Colapinto, Alpine, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes

However, he does not believe that altering the car’s characteristics would yield additional speed.

“It’s not that if we create a very peaky car, we can extract more performance from it,” he stated. “The car's raw potential is currently not on par with our main rivals, but I don’t think making it more peaky will help us gain anything further.”

“I believe it’s simply the raw performance of the car where we are slightly lacking at this time.”

Ferrari has faced challenges with straight-line speed throughout the season, having chosen a smaller turbo to enhance performance at lower speeds. This decision has hindered the team, leading to the loss of their previous advantage. However, with a new floor, sidepods, and bodywork set to debut in Austin, the Scuderia drivers may experience a shift in performance.

This development has been eagerly anticipated, as the team's last race victory was at the British Grand Prix, where Leclerc emerged triumphant. Nonetheless, the Italian squad managed to outscore Mercedes at both the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and the Singapore Grand Prix, with Leclerc finishing second behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the latter.

Ferrari currently occupies second place in the constructors’ championship with 444 points, trailing Mercedes by 134 points, while Leclerc is fifth in the drivers’ standings with 215 points, and teammate Lewis Hamilton holds third with 229 points.