16/07/2025 16:30
Charles Leclerc is eagerly anticipating the arrival of fresh
Ferrari upgrades in a bid to close the gap to the front of the
field. Ferrari sees itself perched second in the constructors'
championship, despite sitting as the only team in the top four in
the standings that has not yet claimed a race win. The Italian
squad entered the season hoping to be in a title race but has been
unable to challenge runaway leaders McLaren. But with just four
podiums in 12 races, it has been far from what the team was hoping
for. "Much tougher first part of the season than what we expected,"
Leclerc told media including RacingNews365 when asked to sum up the
opening half of the campaign. "I think when you end up last year
like we did, fighting for victories, fighting for the world
constructors' championship, we started this year hoping that at
least we'd start in the same position, which was not the case. "We
struggled a bit more." Ferrari is on the verge of deploying a new
rear suspension, which it hopes will offer a boost in performance
for the second half of the campaign. As much of the focus will soon
likely be placed on next year's car built under a fresh set of
technical regulations, Leclerc is hopeful the final push of
upcoming upgrades will offer the team a boost in the pecking order.
"But now we are finding our way again with the development," he
said. "It definitely helped us to do some steps forward. "I know
that there are more things coming, hopefully as soon as possible,
which will help us to close the gap to McLaren, to Red Bull as
well. "Mercedes seems to be maybe a bit more up and down. But it's
up to us to do a better job than others and try and catch the guys
in front."
