Charles Leclerc was frustrated with poor Ferrari strategy: “The only good thing is Carlos won.”
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Mattia Binotto talking to Charles Leclerc after the British Grand Prix
This year’s British Grand Prix was an incredibly eventful one. On the first lap, there was a massive crash, involving many drivers, that led to the end of the race for George Russell, Alex Albon, and Zhou Guanyu, who was in a terrifying crash but is reportedly okay. The restart was no less chaotic.
On the restart, Carlos Sainz squeezed Max Verstappen onto the grass, while Charles Leclerc had a poor start, and had to fight Sergio Perez. When he was making his move on Perez, he picked up front wing damage which made him lose ‘5 points’ of downforce. Despite that, the Monegasque did not make a front wing change and continued driving.
Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen swapped the lead twice, as they went through their own separate incidents. Verstappen then pit as he had damage. This left him out of the fight for the victory, which was now between Sainz, Leclerc, and a resurgent Lewis Hamilton. On lap 39, Esteban Ocon pulled to the side of the main straight with damage, and that brought out a safety car, throwing another spanner into the works.
The safety car saga that would have left a bitter taste in Charles Leclerc’s mouth
Charles Leclerc was much faster than his teammate throughout the race, even with the front-wing damage. When Carlos let him pass, he immediately started cutting down the gap to Lewis Hamilton, and even pulled a gap to Carlos Sainz. When Lewis Hamilton pit, he came out behind Carlos Sainz.
When the safety car came out after Esteban Ocon retired, Ferrari chose not to pit Charles Leclerc, but everybody behind him did pit. This meant on the restart that Leclerc was fighting one-handed, as everyone behind had a much faster tire compound and fresher tires as well. Eventually, Leclerc finished 4th after being overtaken by Sainz, and after a very intense fight with Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.
Talking on the radio after the race, Leclerc said: “The amount of race time we lost in this race…Fricking hell. The only good thing is Carlos won. But guys…anyway…enjoy the victory.” Perhaps what was even more bitter for the Monegasque than he only gained 6 points to Max Verstappen, and lost the same amount of points to Sergio Perez, who pulled away in second after a great recovery drive.
Mattia Binotto tried to cheer up Charles Leclerc after the race, but it’s not very probable that Leclerc would have been very happy with the team’s decisions towards him today. Leclerc has not finished on the podium since Miami, when he finished second. Leclerc needs to win again soon if he wants to keep in touch with Max Verstappen in the championship.
Also Read: “The performance is in the car,” Charles Leclerc optimistic despite facing PU-related problems
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)