Charles Leclerc delivers Ferrari 'pressure' demand in McLaren hunt

Charles Leclerc has implored Ferrari to "force" McLaren into more "mistakes" this season by delivering a suite of upgrades that will put the constructors' champions "under pressure".

The Monegasque driver wants to see the Scuderia "tackle some of the weaknesses" the SF-25 has to take the fight to the Woking squad on track and in the F1 standings.

11 rounds into the campaign, Ferrari - although in second - is already 207 points behind the papaya team, which leads the way on 417.

With 13 weekends of the schedule, including the British Grand Prix, still to run, McLaren is poised to beat Red Bull's record total from 2023 of 860 points.

When asked at Silverstone if he felt the upgrades Ferrari still has in the pipeline would help reduce the points deficit, he explained he does not think the delta can be completely eradicated.

"I'd be worried if I didn't think that way, because obviously, we are doing everything in order to close that gap as much as possible," the eight-time grand prix winner replied to media, including RacingNews365.

"We are going to try and bring upgrades as soon as possible that will tackle some of the weaknesses we have.

"I'm sure it will close the gap. Whether it will close the gap completely, I don't think so."

'It's not down to only one upgrade...'

Elaborating on the situation, Leclerc outlined how Ferrari can start to close the gap, highlighting how McLaren's current advantage is too large for Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri to be "under any kind of pressure", both in races and in the standings.

"It's a significant advantage that they have at the moment, and it's not down to only one upgrade or one part of the car," he said.

"I think it's a multitude of upgrades in order to get to their level."

"But little by little, at least if we are close enough to put them under pressure, I hope that we can force them into some more mistakes, because at the moment, they've got too much margin for us to be putting any kind of pressure [on them]."