Charles Leclerc, the driver from Monaco, raced in the Ferrari SF-24 on May 18, 2024, during the qualifying day of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola circuit in Italy. Leclerc discussed how the numerous large kerbs on the track may be hindering the progress of Ferrari’s recent F1 upgrade package. The team introduced their highly anticipated initial upgrades to the revamped SF-24 car during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, aiming to close the gap to Red Bull. Leclerc showed promising speed during practice sessions but couldn’t maintain it during qualifying. Max Verstappen secured pole position, while Leclerc found himself behind the McLarens. Despite the setback, Leclerc believes there is still more potential to be explored in the new package and that the team will continue to make improvements in the upcoming races, which will be crucial for the rest of the season.
Leclerc also emphasized the importance of kerbs in achieving a fast lap at Imola, noting that they played a crucial role that outweighed the benefits of the upgrades. A comparison of videos between the top three teams revealed that Verstappen’s RB20 and McLaren’s MCL38 were better equipped to handle the kerbs compared to the Ferrari.
“It’s a more twisty track with a lot of kerbs. When you’re on a kerb, the small differences in aerodynamics may not be as noticeable. So, it may not be the ideal track to evaluate the upgrades. If a car performs exceptionally well on the kerbs here, it can make a bigger difference than an aerodynamic upgrade,” explained Leclerc.
Leclerc expressed hope that returning to traditional tracks and further adjusting the car setup would unlock more potential for Ferrari. He believes it usually takes one or two races to find the ideal setup for a new package on the car, which will allow them to extract maximum performance.
“We will continue working on this in the next race and hope to regain our advantage over McLaren,” Leclerc added.
Despite the challenges, Leclerc highlighted the positive aspect that Ferrari’s modifications met their expectations based on simulator data. The results on track are in line with what they anticipated.
“Everything we anticipated from this update has been achieved. The numbers confirm our expectations,” Leclerc concluded.
