Leclerc sees Ferrari at a disadvantage: 'Not enough progress made'

At the start of 2022, the Italians were even ahead of Red Bull and Charles Leclerc seemed to have a claim to the world title. More than a year later, Max Verstappen is a world title richer and the Austrians seem to have disappeared on the horizon for the time being, even the Ferrari driver, who scored his first ever F1 victory in Belgium in 2021, sees.

'Ferrari not making enough progress'

"Last year, at this point, the target was to win races, now we are much closer to the other teams and Red Bull is much further away now. So yeah, the progress we have done is definitely not enough. We are aware of it." Nevertheless, Leclerc maintains confidence in his team. "But yes, with Fred [Vasseur] we are also speaking a lot. He shares his view of what we should do in the future, what are the plans for the future and this gives me the confidence that we are going in the right direction."

Whereas the Formula 1 driver was still hoping for the world title last year, his main aim now is to finish second in the constructors' championship. "I think a realistic target, first of all, should be to try and be second in the constructors, which is going to be a challenge. McLaren now is back in the fight. Mercedes is always strong. Aston Martin a little bit less recently, but I have no doubt that they will come back." But Ferrari still has something in store: "I know that the plan is there and I am really confident that it's going to make a difference. We have a few upgrades coming a bit later on in the second part of the season, which hopefully will make a difference and will help us achieve this target."