Charles Leclerc's 'extreme' setup approach to tackle Ferrari's woes

After a stellar performance in Monaco, where Ferrari secured a one-three finish, the team's momentum faltered. The anticipated upgrade in Spain backfired, reintroducing the dreaded bouncing issue that plagued ground-effect cars since 2022.

Ferrari decided to forgo typical performance-oriented setups during the British Grand Prix practice sessions, opting instead for extensive testing. Leclerc believed this unconventional approach paid off, providing insights into the SF-24's struggles.

Discussing his approach ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest, Leclerc revealed the "extreme" setups he used to identify the root of the problem.

"Our rate of improvement until Monaco was really good, and as I have said many times before, we were probably the team that made the most progress from Monza last year to Monaco this year, it was a really good rate of improvement," Leclerc explained to the media.

"Then we went to Montreal where we had some issues with the power unit in the race, which obviously cost us a good result and then I think the turning point was Barcelona onwards.

"We had an upgrade that induced quite a bit more bouncing and from my side, especially from that moment on, I've been quite extreme in the change of setup in order to try and find a way around those issues."

Despite the setbacks, Leclerc identified a silver lining in the challenging situation.

“You will pay the price with the results, but you gain a lot of knowledge about those issues, which I think will help us bounce back, starting from this weekend onwards.

"For us, it is very important to lose as few races as possible to understand those issues, but I think now we understand them and I am confident that from this race onwards, we can maximise the points and inspire us as well for the rest of the season."

Pressed for details on his findings, Leclerc remained tight-lipped but confirmed the effectiveness of his extreme setups.

"I am not going to go into much detail for now, but we've been doing our homework pretty well," he added.

"By going in extreme ways in the last few races, on my side, I think we've learned many things and with a week off between the races, we could make conclusions and make our choices for this weekend."

As the Formula 1 season progresses, the Hungarian Grand Prix stands as the 13th race of the 2024 calendar, scheduled for the weekend of July 19-21. The race will cover 70 laps of the 4.381-kilometre Hungaroring in Budapest, taking place on Sunday, July 21.