SUMMARY
- Ferrari and Charles Leclerc face pressure ahead of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix after a challenging start in Bahrain.
- Leclerc aims to overcome issues with his car and challenge Max Verstappen's dominance in the 2024 season.
As the teams and their drivers are headed towards the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix of 2024, there has been mounting pressure on Ferrari and Charles Leclerc. With the season opener in Bahrain, Prancing Horse was rather optimistic regarding their performance. However, the one who delivered an outstanding performance under the red banner was Carlos Sainz with a podium finish, while Leclerc had to settle with P4.
In Jeddah, the Monegasque is determined to bounce back from the challenges faced in the Sakhir race, particularly the enduring brake issues that plagued him over 57 laps. Nonetheless, Ferrari is working diligently to resolve this problem. Despite the team’s previous struggles in 2023, where they only managed sixth and seventh places, Leclerc is hopeful for better outcomes.
Charles Leclerc aims to challenge Max Verstappen’s reign in 2024
In keeping with Formula 1 tradition, the drivers actively participated in a press conference preceding the highly anticipated Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The exchanges with the media shed light on the forthcoming race. When a reporter questioned Leclerc on his expectations for this season based on the dataset from Bahrain, the 26-year-old driver unveiled his goal, targeting reigning champion Max Verstappen.
Leclerc stated, “We need to work on, on our car so we are really focusing on that but we are in a positive moment for the team. After the good momentum we’ve had in the second part of last year to this year where we’ve had a pretty good winter. We’ve hit all our targets that we had given us and the car is again doing exactly what we wanted.”
He further added, “We are just excited to be back out on track to get some other data to obviously bring the upgrades as quickly as possible and to hopefully put Max under a bit more pressure than now.” The Red Bull driver has already set a new standard with his first grand win at the season opener of 2024. Regardless of Leclerc’s expectations, it will be interesting to witness the Ferrari driver put up a tough fight against Verstappen.
2024 season expectations: What lies ahead?
Max Verstappen cruised to victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix, setting the stage to repeat it once again at Jeddah. The Dutchman is eyeing his 100th career podium in the upcoming race. However, this commanding performance raised concerns among competitors, who fear that Red Bull has widened the gap further over the winter break.
𝗜𝗧’𝗦 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞!!! Back to Jeddah!
Throwback to 2022, where Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc raced eachother throughout the last few laps for the win! 🔥pic.twitter.com/IiARDIeXWH
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) March 4, 2024
On the contrary, Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have dipped in terms of performance. But considering this year’s lengthy schedule, they have a shot of climbing back up to the top spots. For a change, both drivers expressed satisfaction with their car’s performance, citing the nature of the circuit to be the cause of poor speed rather than the vehicle itself.
The Mercedes W15, with its revamped structure, is expected to excel on high-speed tracks like the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Despite Verstappen’s dominant victory in Bahrain, Sergio Perez’s solid performance was a silver lining. Regardless of an expiring contract, the Mexican might have a shot at securing an extension to his future with Red Bull.