Leclerc puts rivals on alert with Ferrari prediction

Charles Leclerc has predicted that Ferrari will once again be in the fight for F1 grand prix wins, once it solves the persistent bouncing that is plaguing the car.

Since an upgrade was introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari's form has dipped with Leclerc and Carlos Sainz suffering from bouncing - the phenomenon that was first present during the early days of the ground effects rules.

The upgrade was introduced in Barcelona, Ferrari has scored just 52 points with Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes all out-performing the Maranello team, picking up wins. 

Ferrari has just two podiums since Spain, but Leclerc feels that once the bouncing issue has been rectified, the SF-24 will be back in the mix as it was in the early stages of the season, when it appeared the closest challenger to Red Bull's RB20.

"I think when we erase our bouncing issue completely, we can find a really good level of performance," Leclerc told media including RacingNews365.

"That is what has been slowing us down in the development race, and it is where we are focusing at the moment. 

"Once the bouncing is gone, I think it will help us to make quite a big step forward.

"We have a plan, I'm not going go into too detail about it, but for sure we have different scenarios in mind and we will see what limitations or not we will have [on Friday]. 

"Then we will make the right decisions with what we know, but I am pretty confident that we won't have to change what we start with."

Set-up issues vs upgrades

Ferrari has struggled over one lap in qualifying over recent races, with its race pace superior, as Leclerc conceded that the traits could not be rectified in the short-term.

"I don't think we can change that tendency with the set-up, with upgrades you can change it because the issues that we are facing are more in qualifying running than the race," he said.

"If we fix those issues, I am pretty sure that the qualifying pace will be better and so that is where our focus is and naturally I think it will get back to what we've seen in the last year."