Ferrari prepares for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the last Sprint weekend of the season, hoping to exploit their potential, but also aware of the challenges that await them. After an exceptional performance by Charles Leclerc in the Mexican Grand Prix, where he managed to get on the podium despite the difficulties, and the initial contact with Perez which put an end to the Mexican's race, the Maranello team finds itself facing the critical issues of own package. Here it will be essential to immediately find the best compromise in the set-up. Ferrari has worked to resolve the car's problems since the beginning of the season, but despite everything the difficulties persist. So let's see Leclerc's statements and feelings ahead of the Brazilian GP.
Leclerc, the SF-23 continues to suffer
Despite the recent pole position and third place in Mexico City, Leclerc felt a persistent "weakness" in the SF-23. This affected his performance during the race, preventing him from chasing Hamilton. It's not a new problem for Leclerc who, since the beginning of the season, has had to fight with a car that changes face from one weekend to the next. “In the short term, there are no great solutions, I think every time we're a little bit outside the optimal window, we waste too much time,” said Leclerc after the weekend in Mexico.
“Every time we go outside the optimal window of the car, we waste too much time. This is exactly what happened on the Hard tyres,” explained Leclerc, highlighting the weak point of their car. Despite these challenges, Ferrari has shown that it can capitalize on its potential when everything aligns perfectly. Carlos Sainz's recent victories in Singapore and Leclerc's podiums were the result of careful development work, making the most of the characteristics of the SF-23. Sometimes the best results also came in the Sprint weekend.
However, Leclerc is aware of the difficulties that can arise when tire temperatures are not optimal, as happened in Mexico City.
Leclerc's statements for the Brazilian GP
Ferrari now faces a challenging weekend in Brazil, with the knowledge that Mercedes are 22 points ahead in the constructors championship and Max Verstappen who with Red Bull is approaching a further record of 17 seasonal victories. With three races remaining, there are few shots left for Ferrari. Despite this, Charles Leclerc remains proactive even if it is difficult to predict the progress of the weekend with just one free practice session. The Monegasque comes from two consecutive poles and wants to repeat himself in Brazil even if his objective is to aim for a better placing on Sunday.
“It's always nice to take poles, however, at the same time what matters more to me is what you do on Sunday in the race and at the moment we don't really have the car to convert those Pole Positions into a victory. Or at least an excellent result on Sunday. So we need to work on that and that's what we're all focusing on at the moment. Trying to find performance from a race perspective. This weekend? I'd rather win than take pole"
On the compounds, great protagonists in Mexico, Charles instead declared: “I don't think this aspect has a big influence on our performance. I think those depend more on the characteristics of the track, but I repeat, it's very difficult to predict this weekend, especially on sprint weekends with a free practice session. If you make a mistake you have no opportunity to recover. "
