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Charles Leclerc has given his verdict on the 2024 F1 season, calling it "very tricky". The Ferrari driver has had a strange season with many ups and downs. At first, he took some time getting used to the car. His teammate Carlos Sainz won in Australia while Leclerc followed him home in P2.
Once Leclerc finally got ahold of the Ferrari, he started putting together a more consistent run of races which culminated with a win in his home race in Monaco. This peak was then followed by another trough period for the driver as he went through a few races where he just couldn't bring it all together.
He had a string of bad weekends that began in Canada and continued til Silverstone. Once the driver understood the new upgrades, he was able to take another step forward. He secured unlikely podiums at Spa and Zandvoort.
Speaking during an interview, Leclerc opened up about his 2024 F1 season, saying (via The Race),
"It's been a season that, emotionally speaking, was really contrasting. Because I've had the two wins that I always dream of, which is Monaco and Monza. But at the same time, we went through a time where we had to experience things with the set-up, and we went through very tricky parts with the car where it was very difficult to drive, that pushed us to not optimize our weekend."
He added,
It was difficult to then come back to our form. So, when you look back at the season, there were highs and lows - but the highs were very high and the lows were very low."
In the last two races, Baku and Singapore, Leclerc has finished second and fifth, respectively. This upturn in results has only added to the sense of recent optimism that followed his Monza victory.
Charles Leclerc says improvement happening every race in 2024
Charles Leclerc said that one of the major reasons why he felt good about 2024 was because there had been a steady improvement in his performance levels. Leclerc, who finds himself in third in the drivers' championship with six races to go in the season, said (via The Race),
"Yes, sometimes there are seasons that are quite frustrating in one way because you do a really good job but it kind of looks normal because you are fifth or sixth because the car is just not good enough.
"But I feel like I am improving race after race, season after season, so, yeah. I feel it is that way. But I'll keep pushing, keep working on things that I still don't like when I look at the data about the way I drive and the way I work. Hopefully I'll get even better."
Charles Leclerc is currently 34 points behind Lando Norris in P2. Ferrari is in the same position in the constructors' championship with the same gap, to second-placed Red Bull.
