Leclerc: “I’m trying not to think about the championship”

Ferrari won from second place by a walk with Charles Leclerc in Australia – notwithstanding the retirement of Max Ferstappen due to a hydraulic problem – without making a significant upgrade to their cars aimed at largely solving the straight jump (porpoise) problem . which was particularly intense for her in Melbourne.

To stay at the top of the sport and with the first of their home country’s two GPs – at Imola over the Easter three days – the Scuderia need to focus on two areas, according to Leclerc and Binoto. The former spoke about the mentality the team should have from now on and its director about the F1-75 upgrade plan.

“We are only in the third race. At the moment I don’t want to think about the championship, although I can’t say it’s not nice to see where we are in the table and what we’re claiming. It’s an incredible feeling. 34 points is an insane difference. “But I try not to have it in my head, I don’t want to change the way I think.” said Leclerc, who is 34 points behind second-placed George Russell and 46 points behind just sixth Max Ferstappen.

The Scuderia mentality

Regarding the mentality of the team, Monegasque added: “The game in Italy is going to be fantastic, it’s always important for us and I’m looking forward to it, but we have to approach these three days as we approached the first three. It’s extremely important that we don’t underdo it too much Put the pressure on and don’t try to overdo it, we’ve been working very well together as a team since the beginning of the year and we just have to keep doing our job.

I believe that our mentality, mine and that of the team, is the right one at the moment. And it has to stay that way. I don’t think the standings reflect the true picture of the league at the moment. Red Bull is very close. Unfortunately Max has some issues but I’m sure they will return to the top fight. We have to get involved, try to improve and keep the credibility we have and that helps us a lot from the start of the season.

Binoto’s words were on the same wavelength: “I’m just surprised. I think we’ve worked hard and made it a high priority in 2022. I know this is a great team and we’ve improved over the years. I was hoping to start the season with a “We have a competitive car but I certainly didn’t expect to start so well. It would be unfair to think that. But I still think the difference between us and the others can be very small. The previous games proved it and we will have great fights in the next ones too.

Binoto explained that the most important factor in the victories in Bahrain and Melbourne was the balance of the Ferrari F1-75, despite the reduced perspective that saw the Saudi Arabian GP defeat Red Bull and Max Ferstappen.

“I think a well-balanced car is a crucial factor for tire management and the drivers handled them well too. Charles did a very good job in that area. I don’t think the height played a role because our main opponents now, I believe, have chosen the wing of high [στην Αυστραλία]’ said the Italian.

The F1-75 upgrades

The Ferrari F1-75 won the Melbourne race without even implementing a major diffuser modification that it had with it at the Oceania race – a modification that would help solve the seemingly very serious problem of straight impact and together to produce more and further improve the stability of the car during the lap.

So far Ferrari have only made minor changes to the ground during winter testing in Bahrain, bringing only a lower wing to the Jeddah. Modifying the diffuser and therefore the floor with a new component (without requiring a complete floor rebuild) will be a first major upgrade – but the team confirmed they were simply testing Melbourne to compare the track data with that of the wind tunnel. to further improve its design and place it in the F1-75 later in the spring.

Had it not been for the $140 million budget this year, Ferrari would have already installed its upgraded diffuser in Australia – if they found it capable on track – to solve the high rebound problem. But Binoto has made it clear that budget constraints on F1-75 development costs mean that Ferrari must make wise decisions.

The Cavallino will indeed remain unchanged from the first three games this year in Imola – and Binoto explained that this is because the Emilia Romagna battle will have a different structure of qualifying on Good Friday and sprint qualifying in the afternoon of Holy Saturday.

“It will be three difficult days of bringing upgrades and trying to evaluate them in Friday’s free tests because there we have to focus on qualifying tests that same afternoon.”said the Italian.

And he concluded: “We will not have anything special at Imola, but we will try to solve the problems that have affected us so far. I’m referring to the jumps that affected our performance over the three days [στην Αυστραλία]. So we will work on that again. Significant upgrades will come later in the season.”