Charles Leclerc reveals: the Ferrari star isn’t worried about that

How do they do it? This is the question some of Ferrari’s rivals are asking themselves in light of the progress and updates the Maranello-based team has managed to achieve in the first half of the season. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, for example, wondered how long the Reds’ funds would last. “In my view, they should run out of money soon, because there is, after all, a budget cap. We can’t do that; we don’t have the leeway under the budget cap to fit so many new parts to the car.”

McLaren’s technical director Neil Houldey struck a similar note, explaining: “Purely in terms of the scale of it, it does indeed look as though Ferrari have introduced a great deal of new aerodynamic work to the track, and that’s something we need to look at and understand – namely, how they’ve achieved it.»

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur reacted with displeasure to Wolff’s comments. The French engineer emphasised: “I did find it a bit ironic that this came from Toto and Mercedes. When Mercedes or Red Bull Racing develop something, they’re geniuses. When we develop something, we’re cheating. People need to calm down. We haven’t introduced any more parts than Red Bull Racing or anyone else. I don’t know if that was a joke.”

Charles Leclerc emphasises: “Fred knows what he’s doing”

Charles Leclerc remains calm; when asked about it, he says: “In this regard, I trust Fred more than anyone else. Of course, the team has worked hard to drive production forward and to motivate the creative minds in the team to implement improvements as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

“I’m sure Fred has it under control. So am I worried? No, because I have complete faith in Fred and know that he knows exactly what he’s doing,” clarifies the nine-time Grand Prix winner, who is currently fourth in the World Championship standings after eleven Grands Prix.

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