Charles Leclerc is heading into this weekend's Belgian GP with reservations about Ferrari's performance.
Despite his past victory at Spa-Francorchamps in 2019, and his success earlier this year in Monaco, recent developments have dampened his optimism.
Since introducing a new floor in Barcelona, the Maranello-based team has been battling with a resurgence of the 'porpoising' or bouncing issue due to the ground effect.
Although the team made modifications to the design for the Hungarian GP, team boss Frederic Vasseur expressed uncertainty about the improvement, attributing it possibly to the low-speed nature of the circuit near Budapest.
"Spa will allow us to verify if we have done a good job over the past few weeks to mitigate the side effects in high speed corners of the update package we introduced recently," Vasseur remarked.
"Now we will see if we have fixed it at high speed tracks too," he added.
Leclerc, who has found the 2024 car more challenging to handle compared to his teammate Carlos Sainz, shared his concerns. When queried whether Ferrari could be considered favorites as they were in Monaco, the 26-year-old driver was doubtful.
"If we continue like this with this car, I don't think so. Monaco remains a very, very specific circuit. Just because we were strong there doesn't mean we'll be fast somewhere else. So on paper, we're not favourites anywhere," Leclerc stated.
Nevertheless, Leclerc acknowledged that last week's adjustments in Hungary were a step forward. "The understanding of the floor is definitely moving in the right direction," he confirmed.
However, he tempered expectations for the upcoming race: "The bouncing of the car remains an issue that is difficult to solve. We are making progress, but I expect it to be an issue again at Spa."
