Charles Leclerc says that he is encouraged by the performance improvement of Ferrari’s upgrade in the Belgian Grand Prix after he had stopped Max Verstappen for a stage finish.
Ferrari introduced a new rear -wheel suspension with the intention of being able to run his car on a wider range of riding heights, giving better performance from the floor. With just one practice session to test the new parts, Ferrari’s time was limited, but Leclerc says it was delivered to which it was hoped and shows the potential for further improvements.
“To be honest, we have expected what we had expected with this upgrade and that is really positive,” said Leclerc. “We have to continue to learn how to maximize this new upgrade. It is still quite new, but it is a good first weekend and I am happy that we are on stage to thank the whole team back in Maranello. We will continue to push and hopefully we will put a little more pressure on the McLarens.
“I am happy with the steps we do, and I think we all have to be proud of that, because I know that behind it, there is a lot of work behind the scenes of the people at home to have this upgrade here. It certainly helped to get the podium when you see how close it was today with Max today.
“However, we are all aware that this is not enough, and we must continue to push to be closer to the McLaren. This is very clear to the entire team. It does not change that we will be satisfied with what we have done this weekend.”
Leclerc was under pressure from Verstappen early in the race, but was able to clear the Red Bull before things closed again in the last laps, and he believes it played a major role again.
“It’s fun,” he said. “I don’t think we expected it, especially after the qualification of the sprint when I saw the gap with the top three. I had something like that:” Ok, it will probably be the best we can do this weekend. ” Yesterday we really made a good round.
“We compared a bit of gambling with the lower downforce with people around us, and then the rain was difficult today. The first part of the race was very difficult and Max was certainly faster than me. I had to hold him behind, which we went on the swallowing, things came to me a little more.
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