Leclerc targets McLaren amid 'inconsistent' Red Bull and 'fluctuating' Mercedes

08:31, 14 Aug

byTobia Elia

Charles Leclerc hopes to close the gap to McLaren following the latest updates to the SF-25 and the promising performance at the Hungarian GP—despite a technical issue midway through the race—while still keeping in mind the battle with Red Bull and Mercedes for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Despite a first half of the season that fell short of Ferrari’s expectations, Charles Leclerc can still boast five podiums in 14 races, with a sixth narrowly slipping away in Hungary after securing pole position in the race and leading until a technical issue struck in the final stint.

An issue that cost him not only victory over the two McLarens but also ground to George Russell, with the Mercedes driver seizing the opportunity to bring his W16 back onto the podium.

Nonetheless, the new rear suspension introduced in Spa appears to have given the SF-25 a step forward, as reflected in Leclerc’s strong performances over the past two weekends.

Charles Leclerc at the F1 Hungaroring track

Leclerc targets McLaren after promising Hungarian GP weekend

As the summer break comes to an end, Leclerc hopes to close the gap even further to the team led by Andrea Stella, as revealed in an interview with Autosprint: “Certainly, these developments could help us get closer to McLaren. How close we can get will depend on the level of performance we can extract.''

''Right now, McLaren is the benchmark—they’re the strongest because they’ve managed to build a car that is consistently quick across all types of circuits. They’re always at the front, regardless of the track layout.''

The Monegasque remains focused on his main objective: the fight with Red Bull and Mercedes for second place in the Constructors’ Championship: ''If I compare with our other direct rivals, Red Bull has been inconsistent, while Mercedes fluctuates between highs and lows.''

He then added: ''They’re very strong on tracks like Montreal but struggle under other conditions and on different circuits.''

''Unfortunately, we remain at a fairly constant distance from McLaren. Our progress is steadier, but our level of competitiveness is still not enough. We need to take a step forward, and I hope these updates will help us do that.”