Leclerc: Ferrari update won't improve pace

Charles Leclerc has revealed that Ferrari's update package for the Austrian Grand Prix will make no difference to the performance of the SF90. After taking several upgrades off the car at the French Grand Prix last week, Ferrari's search to unlock their potential goes on.

Sebastian Vettel was scathing of Ferrari's upgrades at Paul Ricard, although team principal Mattia Binotto said it was not a complete calamity, with some parts remaining on the car.

Binotto said coming into the weekend that the Scuderia would have more parts to test in Spielberg.

But Leclerc says Ferrari's pace will not improve as a result, although the Red Bull Ring is expected to play into their hands better than Pal Ricard.

"We brought some new parts that… not all of them worked in Paul Ricard," he said.

"Here we are bringing some new parts, which are not for performance, so we won't gain anything from them.

"But they will help us to understand why the ones at Paul Ricard didn't work, so it's going to be quite exciting and if we get these answers then hopefully we can find out what makes us go quicker."

Although Ferrari's hopes of success in either championship appear to have been extinguished amid Mercedes' flawless start, Leclerc says he retains faith that they can be victorious.

"We'll believe it until the end, of course," he said. "We are all aware that the gap is quite big and it's going to be very difficult to catch up.

"But we won't give up until it's mathematically impossible, so we'll give everything – but of course the gap is big."

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