New track, new colours and renewed confidence for Ferrari as the Formula One team heads into its home race at Monza.

Ferrari did better than expected at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc earning a second straight podium finish and teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. Surging from 10th on the grid to place fifth.

That was a surprise in what was expected to be a weekend of damage limitation before planned car upgrades at the Italian Grand Prix.

Although it was a well-timed morale boost for a team which started 2024 fighting for wins but had dropped out of contention, Leclerc was quick to temper expectations.

“I don’t let the last two races change our expectations,” he said. “We are in a difficult moment for the team. We are struggling a little bit with pace at the moment.

“I think we understood quite a few things since Zandvoort … it was a good race. In Spa, it was good as well.

“Here, it should be a bit more in the direction of Spa, so hopefully we’ll be a bit more in the fight for the podium. However, for the win, I don’t think we quite have that yet.”

Indeed, Ferrari has only won one of the past 13 editions of the Italian Grand Prix, with Leclerc delighting the passionate red-clad fans in 2019.

Since then, the famed Italian Scuderia’s only two podium finishes have been Leclerc’s second place in 2022 before he was beaten to third place by Sainz last year.

“I wouldn’t say the feeling is that we must do better,” Leclerc said. “However, there’s definitely a huge motivation because it’s not only a normal weekend that starts from the Thursday to the Sunday, but it starts already from Monday in Maranello where we have so many tifosi (fans), and that obviously motivates everybody.

“It seems and it looks like we’ve had a pretty strong car with a very low-downforce package even in the last few years where performance was not as good. That’s positive because it’s our home race and as much as it’s giving exactly the same amount of points as other races, emotionally speaking and for the whole team it’s definitely a special one.”

New looks: Monza is one of the oldest and most historic circuits on the F1 calendar, but there have been considerable changes to the Temple of Speed this year.

Modernisation works cost more than 20 million euros (USD 22 million), and the track has completely resurfaced for the first time since 1922 and will have a much darker appearance. Moreover, some of the iconic kerbs have been modified - much to the dismay of several drivers.

“They’ve changed the kerbs,” Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo said on Thursday after inspecting the new look by bicycle.

“I went around the track this morning. I can’t say I’m that impressed because some elements have lost some of the character of the circuit.

“Maybe, it’s just as a driver, because we drive it and experience it, but kerbs and things like this make a circuit unique … Part of Monza is that it was old school, and now that’s gone. The resurfacing looks great, the asphalt looks really nice, but the kerbs, I’m a bit disappointed in.”