Charles Leclerc has detailed how "very slight" changes in his driving style has enabled him to unlock performance he was struggling to find in the Ferrari. At Spa, Leclerc qualified second fastest but inherited pole position at the wet-dry, high-speed Spa-Francorchamps once Max Verstappen took his grid penalty. The Ferrari has struggled in both wet conditions and on high-speed tracks in 2023, but Leclerc has explained how he has worked to negate the downsides to the SF-23 and work on the positives.
Leclerc's tweaks
'Honestly, it is very difficult to give the details, because it's very slight changes in terms of driving style," Leclerc told media including RacingNews365. "But that makes a big difference in the end. I have a very aggressive driving style, whether it's in full wet or full dry, which pays off in those two conditions. "But whenever I'm in between with slick tyres, then it doesn't really pay off. And [in Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying] I tried different directions, also with tools, so the way the car is set up and the way I can change it from one corner to the other. "This gave me much more confidence straight away, and the lap-time was better." The Ferrari has also been hampered for its inability to look after its tyres during races in 2023, with Leclerc noting signs of improvement for the Scuderia. "It's a bit too early to say but it's been two or three races where we are managing our tyres better," he said after taking third in the Belgian GP. "In terms of tyre management, we didn't have huge degradation, and also looking at the Mercedes [of Lewis Hamilton] behind, I was in control of the pace of my tyres. "So on that front, it looked good, we still need to keep an eye on that because sometimes, especially in very specific conditions, we sometimes get out of the right window of the tyres, and then we struggle quite a lot."
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