Ferrari needs a Herculean recovery. The first half of the season has been bittersweet. While the first eight races saw the Red Squad return to glory, the next six were equally disappointing. Charles Leclerc was the most affected driver of the series of debacles. From repeated podiums to missing the top 10, the Monegasque has endured one hell of a ride.

Leclerc wants to be the best, just like all the drivers on the grid. But how can he achieve that without a top 3 finish in a race? Looks like he had stored all his potential and energy for winning the Monaco GP. And now he’s facing the consequences of the draining. At least that’s what Ex-Ferrari boss, Peter Windsor believes. In his YouTube livestream, Windsor critically suggested Leclerc to return to the top spot. The ‘Prince of Monaco’ was second on the Drivers’ standing, but now falls behind Lando Norris, who has proudly replaced him.

Windsor stated: “Charles definitely went through the bad patch He just seemed to be a bit out of control and I suppose it was just winning Monaco.” The principality’s hero had given his everything to win the race in Monte Carlo, after all, he was chasing his deceased father’s dreams. But the drop after that was unexpected. Peter Windsor added: “If you look at it now, I suppose you got to it was the after-effect, the ‘hangover’ of winning Monaco and walking on water sort of thing. Now it’s come back in reality that he has to just grind away and be what he was at Spa.”

The Ferrari No.1 went up on the podium at the Belgian GP, months after winning his home race. If this performance drop persists, then winning a title of any sort would be a far-fetched target for Ferrari this year. Moreover, only Leclerc isn’t at fault’s end. The team’s flawed upgrades have done more damage than expected.

What problems are Charles Leclerc and Ferrari currently facing?

Carlos Sainz had forewarned the team about bouncing problems. This issue has been a nightmare for the team. They’ve previously struggled with the same and it’d be interesting to see what changes they bring post-break. Meanwhile, team boss Fred Vasseur was partially satisfied with their performance in Spa. After the race, he told the press: “To fix the bouncing is a step in performance. For sure, we are pushing like hell to bring something and we will do it as soon as possible. We have also I think a good sequence of tracks for us with Monza, Baku, Singapore… I think these are good tracks for the characteristics of the car.” 

A team’s performance also depends on certain tracks. Ferrari has always been a strong force in Singapore and Monza. So we could expect them to be outstanding this year as well. Meanwhile, Leclerc has complained about the brakes and understeering-oversteering problems. He surely wasn’t hoping for disastrous tire management in Canadian GP’s wet conditions. But when you least expect a disaster, it always happens.

Now, it’s time for the Maranello-based to revise their issues and solve them to the tee. People will closely observe Charles Leclerc because he is supposedly the next world champion. And if he wishes to maintain the reputation, both Ferrari and Leclerc need to stand on the same page. Fixing faulty settings is the utmost priority right now. The second phase of the 2024 season will be crucial if the team wants to win at least the Constructor’s title.

Will Charles Leclerc bring Ferrari back to the top? What’s your take on this? Let us know in the comments.