Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes are ahead, but Ferrari remain confident
F1 News
![ferrari maintains confidence despite faster red bull mclaren mercedes](https://webp.gp.cdn.pxr.nl/news/2024/07/09/f68d59092f5813b8719ec1ea2f4eb2648bc5fb91.jpg?width=1800)
- Ludo van Denderen
When Carlos Sainz crossed the line victorious in Melbourne earlier this year, there was a lot of confidence at Ferrari. The Italian team seemed to be Red Bull Racing's main challenger; perhaps capturing the constructors' title was even possible. Meanwhile, with exactly half the number of Grands Prix run in '24, the championship is no longer under consideration. Although Ferrari are second in the title race, in terms of speed, McLaren and Mercedes have now surpassed the team of Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Look at the last race in Britain, for example, where Sainz crossed the line in fifth place, over 47 seconds behind Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Leclerc - partly due to a dramatic strategy - took no points at all. The fourth-fastest team is Ferrari at the moment, although Leclerc expects the Scuderia to win again soon. "I'm confident that if take the steps forward that we are expecting to do soon, then we'll be fighting for race victories," the Monegasque stated in conversation with, among others GPblog.
"We are only speaking about two, three tenths that makes a huge difference. But when you put everything back into context, especially with the issues we are facing now, I am confident that once we don't have those issues anymore and that we optimise our package that two three tenths are in the car. We just need to find them and to put the car consistently in the right window," Leclerc believes.
Leclerc believes Ferrari will win again this year
Perhaps the Hungaroring suits the Ferrari better, as it is a twisty and relatively slow track, like Monaco earlier this season, where Leclerc managed to take his first and only win of the season. Looking ahead overall, the Ferrari driver says: "We have been working very, very hard, but there's still some work to do for sure and we are doing that. But I'm confident that once the issues will be solved, we'll be back to where we were."
This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.