Charles Leclerc confident he's made progress on his major weakness in Austria

Charles Leclerc is confident he can overcome his weakness of driving in mixed weather conditions at the British GP. The Ferrari driver believes he does have the confidence to drive in changing conditions in England.

Asked if he was confident about driving in wet or damp conditions in Silverstone, the Monegasque racer replied:

“I mean, I am confident in a way that, whenever I’ve been working on something in my career, I’ve always made steps forward – and pretty quickly. And at the moment, this is probably my biggest focus: What can I do as a driver to put the tyres always in the right window, coming into these conditions. This is probably the factor that is over everything else, so there’s been a lot of work on that, and I am confident I did steps forward, yes.”

Not well-known for his wet weather driving skills, Charles Leclerc feels confident about overcoming his weakness at the Silverstone circuit. Although it was a damp qualifying session, he managed out-qualifying his teammate Carlos Sainz.

The Spanish driver is known for his race craft in mixed grip conditions and has always managed to outclass the 25-year-old. However, the Monegasque driver was able to clock the fastest lap in FP3, which was predominantly a wet session. He believes overcoming his weakness in wet conditions is one of the important goals of his career.

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Charles Leclerc reckons Ferrari has made progress after the Austrian GP

Suggesting that Ferrari has made progress after their upgrades in Austria, Charles Leclerc believes that their pace has improved. The Ferrari was close to the Red Bull in the Austrian GP qualifying session and got outperformed in the race due to different tyre strategies.

Nevertheless, a second-place podium finish has boosted the confidence of the Maranello team. Speaking in the press conference ahead of the British GP, Leclerc said:

“I think since Barcelona really, the feeling is going in the right direction. We couldn't really prove it at any other tracks since Barcelona, but in Austria, the feeling was good, and the pace was a bit better than what we had for the first part of the season.

"So that was good. I think it shows that there were some steps forward made. However, we shouldn't get carried away. I mean, Red Bull is still a lot in front. And I think this track this weekend will expose a bit more [of] our weaknesses. So we might struggle a bit more than what we've seen in Austria. But it's clear that the feeling and the pace is a step better.”

He added:

“I'm not sure yet. I'm not sure. I think, again, during the free practices, it’s going to be very important to assess that, to see how much of a difference it is in terms of tyre degradation, if we need to fine tune the car to these new constructions. And then we'll see. But we don't know yet whether it's going to be a benefit or a weakness.”

In 2023, Ferrari’s biggest problem had been their excessive tyre degradation. Charles Leclerc feels the car has improved in that area and it will be interesting to see how it impacts them in the race.

The Monegasque racer has qualified fourth on the grid for the British GP and is hunting for a podium or a potential victory in the race. According to their long-run pace from the second free practice, the Maranello team is not far from Red Bull, but could face some stiff competition from Mercedes and McLaren.