F1 News
More cause for concern for Red Bull and McLaren? 'We have updates in Italy'
- Sandy van Wijngaarden
Ferrari's speed at Zandvoort came as a surprise to the team. Beforehand they thought they were heading for sixth place, but in the end Charles Leclerc finished third on the podium. Ferrari want to continue this positive momentum, and will be hope to do next weekend when they introduce upgrades.
Charles Leclerc hadn't found himself on the podium for a long time. In Belgium, the Monegasque did get third place after the race due to George Russell's disqualification, but he was unable to celebrate on the podium. At Zandvoort, this was the case, and it came unexpectedly, the Monegasque said after the race.
Ferrari coming up with upgrades
Leclerc indicated that it is super important for the team to produce solid results in this second half of the season. After his victory in Monaco, the Ferrari driver has scored very few points. "I think three or four races ago we were experimenting quite a lot to try and understand the fundamental issues of our car for the development, medium-term," Leclerc said.
The Monegasque also revealed that Ferrari will come up with upgrades next weekend. "We've got an upgrade coming very soon. Now I can say actually because Fred said it, so it will be in Monza. I hope it will help us close the gap. But until the upgrades, I always said that the priority for us was just to do a damage limitation."
The result at Zandvoort was better than the team had estimated beforehand. "Today, we were targeting P6. Realistically, I think on paper, that's what we were fighting for. However, after three, four laps, the pace was there. And we called do P3, which is a good surprise again. So good points. However, now I just hope that the upgrades helps us to do a step forward," Leclerc said.
This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton