On the eve of the Italian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc spoke about his expectations for the Imola weekend, where the SF-24 updates will debut, and the future of Adrian Newey, as well as his new engineer.
May 16, 2024
Lto Formula 1 warm up your engines for the seventh seasonal event, the first on European soil, the Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna. After a year of forced stop due to the flood emergency that hit the region, the Circus returns to Italy, in the heart of the motorvalley, on the banks of the Santerno. On Thursday, theEnzo and Ino Ferrari racetrack in Imola is coming alive, not only due to the free opening of the fanzone to the fans, but due to the drivers’ activities with the media. On the eve of the weekend, Charles Leclerc analyzed what the expectations are for the first of the two home matches of the Scuderia Ferrariwhere the SF-24’s first upgrade package will debut, as well as its new race engineer, Bryan Bozzi.
LLast week, during a break after the Miami event, which ended on the podium in third place for the Monegasque, the Maranello team announced the first big news which will concern the future of Charles Leclerc. Starting from the Imola Grand Prix, in fact, number #16 will have a new track engineer. Xavi Marcoswith him since his arrival at Ferrari in 2019, left his post to Bryan Bozzi. “I’ve always had a close relationship with Bryan. Until now he was working as a Performance Engineer but got a big promotion” declared Leclerc. “Obviously when I learned about the choice of the team and Xavi after Miami, I agreed that he is the perfect person for this role and I am sure that it will go very well from the beginning. I have always had a very good relationship with Xavi and I got along well. With Bryan I think it will be a bit the same thing because we have known each other for many years and we have been working together for some time so I don’t think we will start from scratch. The role will be a little different but I am 100% confident that he will do it in the best way and that we will get along very well”.
Charles Leclerc and Bryan Bozzi
LThe Imola event will be fundamental for the continuation of the Scuderia’s championship. THEIn fact, the first updates to the SF-24, which has been completely revised, will finally make their debut on the track, after filming at Fiorano last week. “Here in Imola we bring many updates and, for the moment, I feel improvements more in the slow corners where we struggled more during the first part of the year” added the Monegasque driver. “Obviously these innovations were conceived many months ago which is why the target is not yet in line with the performance of today’s single-seater but it will certainly be a step forward. I hope but I don’t yet know exactly what the outcome of this package will be. At the moment we have mainly tested it in the simulator on various tracks. It was a step forward but I have seen estimates on the internet that go beyond the current reality so I say to keep our feet on the ground. Little by little with small steps we will go in the right direction. Having said that, I hope that the data we expected will be confirmed here in Imola. It’s not the ideal track because maybe we won’t even see all the improvement; therefore, we will have to wait for other tracks that are more favorable to us to make an overall judgement”.
Charles Leclerc
“The desire to take pole position is obviously there. Both in China and in Miami in qualifying I found the feeling in qualifying. As I have often said, the line is very thin, but not just for me because I believe it is for everyone. Sometimes we have seen some surprises and I believe that this year, even more than previous years, this tire functioning window is really narrow. You have to be really on the ball and judge well every weekend. I think that what I struggled most with in the formation lap has been resolved because I worked really hard on it and the results proved me right. I will continue like this because we need to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
Charles Leclerc
“The situation compared to the last time I raced in Imola, two years ago when I was world championship leader, is very different. We have Red Bull in much better shape than in 2022. As we have seen, in some qualifying we are very close so on a track like this I expect we can make a difference. It’s a very difficult track where it’s almost impossible to get through all the curbs well and plus we have upgrades. When you start from the front with pole position here, it’s usually a good sign. I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t the target, I’ll do everything I can to get it and we’ll see how it goes”.
TOd liven up the paddock of the Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari of Imola are also the hypotheses about the future of Adrian Newey. The most successful designer of modern Formula 1 will definitively say goodbye to Red Bull in the first quarter of 2025. The possibility of a withdrawal has been almost completely set aside and Maranello is in pole position as a future destination.”I think everyone in the paddock would want a man like Adrian on their team. I think that in the last seven/eight months we have been the team that has made the most improvements. McLaren made a big step forward in Miami and now it’s our turn with our upgrade package, but I think Ferrari has done a great job so far and they would be an added value. However, I think what happens in the next few years will be more important. It would definitely be an opportunity but we’ll see if we can have Newey with us or not. I say this honestly, he is one of the engineers you would like to work with in your career someday. We know each other, we talk but obviously we never went into details because of Red Bull. We will see in the future if we will work together, but he has always been a very interesting person and I hope to be able to do so one day.”
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
Chi is sure that next year he will move to Italy to color his future red, however, it is Lewis Hamilton. On 1 February 2024 the seven-time world champion announced that he would leave Mercedes to join Scuderia Ferrari, thus becoming teammate of Charles Leclerc, fresh from a multi-year renewal with the Cavallino. “I believe that Lewis always received a special welcome wherever he went, especially due to his list of successes,” commented the Monegasque. “I think there is nothing comparable to when you become a Ferrari driver and he will feel that little by little, most likely more next year when he will be dressed in red. I don’t see him any different than I did before his contract with us. He is a great champion, with the most successes in the history of Formula 1; I have a lot of respect for him and we have many passions in commonas the music which we have already had the opportunity to talk about often. I went with him to listen to his music in Australia and we share many moments even if it is often difficult to match his commitments. We have always had a good friendship and that won’t change next year”.
