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Charles Leclerc is confident that he has made progress on his comfort in interchangeable conditions in Austria. The Monegasque driver claims that he has taken steps forward after the 2023 F1 Austrian GP.
The race at the Red Bull Ring saw the Ferrari driver return to form, finishing second behind only Max Verstappen's dominant Red Bull. The 25-year-old managed his stints perfectly, showcasing his ability on race day.
The driver recently mentioned that he was a bit uncomfortable in interchangeable conditions, but now has a lot more confidence in it. This puts him in a good place for the unpredictable 2023 F1 British GP.
Speaking to the media at the press conference on Thursday, Charles Leclerc said:
"I mean, I am confident in a way that, whenever I’ve been working on something in my career, I’ve always made steps forward – and pretty quickly. And at the moment, this is probably my biggest focus: what can I do as a driver to put the tyres always in the right window, coming into these conditions."
He added:
"This is probably the factor that is over everything else, so there’s been a lot of work on that, and I am confident I did steps forward, yes."
Charles Leclerc wishes to challenge Red Bull for the win
Leclerc hopes that Ferrari can eventually deliver a car capable of dethroning Max Verstappen and Red Bull, who have been the dominant team so far in 2023.
Despite having finished second in Austria, Ferrari is still quite a bit behind the Bulls at the moment. However, the Monegasque driver did manage to end Verstappen's streak of leading 249 consecutive laps since taking the lead from Sergio Perez at the Miami Grand Prix.
According to Charles Leclerc, Ferrari's ultimate goal is to consistently close the gap and challenge for victories. He stated the following to the media ahead of the 2023 F1 British GP:
"We want to be challenging Red Bull for the win, but we've taken a step in the right direction for sure."
However, much to the Monegasque's dismay, he was unable to run at all in FP2 in Silverstone due to an electrical issue, missing out on valuable set-up time. His lack of practice in Silverstone will put him on the backfoot against Red Bull, who topped both practice sessions on Friday.
