Leclerc disagrees with Verstappen: 'Wouldn't jump to conclusions'
F1 News
After the last two races in the 2024 season, there is a growing sense that Formula 1 may have its competitive nature back. After Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominated the 2022 and 2023 seasons, many predicted he would do the same. However, after Lando Norris took victory at the Miami Grand Prix, he then pushed the Dutchman to the wire at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, finishing just a second behind.
With Norris and McLaren bringing the competitive fight to Verstappen and Red Bull, there is speculation as to whether these competitive races can continue throughout 2024, and whether any other teams can join in, namely Ferrari and Charles Leclerc. The Prancing Horse came to Imola last weekend with new updates, and Ferrari will be hoping that it will bring them success for the rest of the season.
Leclerc says Monaco 'might not show the strength of the car'
Both Verstappen and Leclerc were asked if F1 is becoming more competitive after these last two races during Thursday's press conference at the Monaco Grand Prix, and Verstappen started jokingly, saying, "I think the last few years have been great already!"
The Dutchman continued: "No, of course, in all seriousness, I think it's good that you see this from other teams. They’re also becoming more and more competitive, naturally with the regulations how they are. Over time, people learn more and more about what direction they have to push into, and it's good for the sport that more teams are fighting for the win."
So the current championship leader and three-time World Champion believes the gap between Red Bull and the other teams is shrinking. What does Leclerc think about Ferrari's chances? "I don't want to kill the excitement, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions too early," said the home favourite for this weekend.
"The last race has been pretty close, the one before as well. But it is also true that we have the next two tracks which are also quite particular, being Monaco and Canada, where kerb riding is so important. As Max said earlier, it might not show the strength of the car, so I think we've got to wait a little bit more to try and understand exactly where we are in terms of performance."
However, although the Monegasque say Ferrari won't be as competitive, he is still confident that the upgrades to the SF-24 are a step in the right direction: "We are confident of our steps forward done with our upgrades, and we really hope that it will be enough to close the gap and to be soon on a level with them [Red Bull], and that will be great for Formula 1 in general, and that's what we want."