Leclerc does not have "high expectations" for Ferrari despite Monza win
F1 News
Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix saw jubilant scenes when the chequered flag fell. The Tifosi roared with delight as they watched Charles Leclerc and Ferrari take a fantastic victory at Monza, giving the Monegasque his second fantastic win of the year after winning his home Grand Prix in Monaco early in the season. However, the 26-year-old does not want to get ahead of himself, knowing there is still a lot of work to be done for the Prancing Horse in the final eight races of the season.
It may be the third podium in a row for Leclerc and Ferrari, meaning the Monegasque sits in third place in the drivers' standings, and the team just 39 points away from Red Bull in the constructors' standings, but it has not been plain sailing this season. Two pointless finishes in Spielberg and Silverstone showed how far off the pace Ferrari were of McLaren at the front, and Leclerc knows there is much more progress to be made.
Leclerc: Ferrari "shouldn't rely" on just one race
"We shouldn't rely on the race we have just done," started Leclerc, not getting too ahead of himself despite a famous win. "As a team, it's really important for us that once we come back to the factory, we reset everything that has happened during the weekend. We learn from it and try to analyse everything, but we should leave emotions aside and reset as a team and go again in Baku, not having crazy high expectations. That's not where the team is at the moment."
The Ferrari driver knows that there is still a lot to play for with eight races remaining in 2024. With Red Bull faltering badly, the potential to overtake them and challenge McLaren, who only sit 31 points ahead of the Prancing Horse, is a serious possibility, especially if a heavily upgraded SF-24 that was brought to Monza can work well at the remaining circuits.
However, Leclerc knows how track-specific the 'Temple of Speed' can be: "Baku will also be very different, and Singapore too. We've got to reset. We did that reset from Monaco to Montreal, but as we've seen from Monaco to Montreal, it was a really big change from one weekend to another. And then we went through three or four of the worst races of the season, just because we were trying to understand what was going on in our car."
"Hopefully we don't go through three or four very difficult races from now on, and I don't think it will be the case. But again, it's very important that not only the team, but I think also the expectations from outside don't become crazy high from one race to another because this is not realistic," concluded Leclerc.
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