Leclerc eyes Ferrari opportunity to fix SF-24 weakness

Charles Leclerc has revealed the major weakness he wants to see rectified by Ferrari after being hampered by the problem for most of the season. 

The Monégasque currently sits in second place in the drivers' championship after an encouraging start to the season, with five podiums, including a win in Monaco, to his name, although he suffered a major setback with a DNF in Canada on Sunday. 

Ferrari is also in the mix in the constructors' title fight, with the team 49 points behind Red Bull in second place after scooping two wins so far this season. 

Leclerc, however, feels the SF-24 is not performing as it should in long, slow corners, such as those found in sector one in China or Turns 9 and 10 in Bahrain.

"I still believe that one of our weaknesses is the long, slow speed corners, we struggled quite a bit in China because of that," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365. 

"This is still an area that we need to work on with the car - so I will say it is the main issue to address, but it is not only that."

Putting it all together

He added: "There are a lot of little details, added up together, that make a difference, and just a new package with a bit more downforce and a bit less drag, it is completely obvious it won't be enough to close the gap. 

"There are lots of little details that we need to put together, but if I had to pinpoint one [area to improve], it is in low-speed, long corners."

Despite believing the car struggles in such corners, Leclerc feels the team is firmly in the hunt and it can almost halve its deficit should it ace the rest of the set-up.

"We are speaking about maybe two-and-a-half tenths [deficit] in the worst scenarios, which is little when it is hundredths per corner," he said.

"We've got to look at every single detail, and just by optimising our package, you can already gain a tenth, which is half of that gap."