Ferrari hopes to be able to close this first part of the season in the best way, finally returning to the podium on its own merit. Hungary and Belgium, the last two stages before the summer break, will be two fundamental tests for the SF-24 which has started to experience problems related to bouncing in Spain. For the occasion, Ferrari will bring some to Budapest updates to resolve the issues highlighted and allow the Maranello team to continue with development. Charles Leclerc spoke on the topic of updates, interviewed on Thursday in Hungary.
Leclerc positive: “We have done our homework”
Ferrari sees McLaren closing in on the standings. Leclerc himself never found a podium again after his victory in Monaco, even struggling to get back into the points. The Spain-Austria-Silverstone triptych was undoubtedly the worst moment for Ferrari this season. With the arrival of the updates in Spain the team did not obtain the desired results. TO Silverstone performance was therefore sacrificed to better understand the limits of this new SF-24, taking it to its limits.
Small changes will arrive in Budapest to lead to improvements. News which, however, Leclerc still prefers to keep to himself, but which according to the Monegasque reflects the work done in recent days, particularly after the Silverstone GP. The week off after the hat-trick allowed the team to focus on the problems and draw the necessary conclusions.
“The package we will use in Budapest? I don't want to go into too much detail, you'll see tomorrow, but yes, we did our homework quite well. Having gone very extreme with my set-up in the last few races we learned many things and with the week off between races we were able to draw some conclusions and make our choice for this weekend, but you'll see from tomorrow".
In Budapest and Spa with different funds?
For Budapest, Ferrari should rely on the fund used in Barcelona but with some modifications. However the real test for bouncing will be in Spa. In anticipation of the Belgian GP, which will take place in a week, Ferrari wants to obtain more and more data on bouncing. The choice to resort to the previous package, the one in Imola tested at Silverstone by Sainz, is not a viable option, neither for Leclerc nor for Sainz. Both would like uniformity even on different tracks.
"It is certainly not one of our objectives to have different funds for different types of track – says Leclerc. The problems are mainly linked to rebounds, not to speed peaks. The peak has never been a problem, obviously you get to the limiter first when you have a lot of bounces, because you jump everywhere. But the problem isn't the peak speed, it's just the rebound.". His teammate, Sainz, agrees with him and adds: “I don't think this is the way a team should operate. The basic platform must be the same for every weekend. There should not be different funds based on the characteristics of the track."
Source statements: FormulaPassion
