Charles Leclerc lost a ninth of a second against Lando Norris in qualifying on Saturday and he appeared very embarrassed in front of the media. He wasn’t sure if Ferrari could fix it this season. However, the race came on Sunday, and the same Ferrari was only three seconds behind Red Bull at the finish line. How did it happen? According to Leclerc, even Ferrari itself has no idea.
The Scuderia showed themselves in the race pace and performance of the weekend. The strategists did not hesitate, they brought Leclerc to the pits at the right time and even double undercut Oscar Piastri and also George Russell came out. It allowed them to set a high speed for their pilot and especially the single seat, which confirmed this speed even on hard tires.
How did Ferrari manage such a miracle? Well, according to the pilot, the stable must find out in detail what really happened with their only seat on Sunday in Zandvoort. Ironically, it was at this very place last year that the team conducted a series of tests that finally provided the necessary answers. The engineers in Maranello must prove the same this year.
“I was asked on Saturday if it was possible to achieve the podium, and I replied that we would need a miracle. It worked,” he said happily Charles Leclerc after the race for Sky television. “It’s a very pleasant surprise and I’m very happy, although I’m never satisfied with third place.
“However, I think, after starting from sixth place and with very low expectations before the race, we should be satisfied. Just as we analyze the unpleasant surprise every Sunday, we must analyze the pleasant surprise in this case as well. If we want to drive consistently at the front and consistently perform at the highest level, we need to understand what the right decisions were made, because it wasn’t just me, but it was Carlos very strong today. continued the Monaco racer
“In fact, we did something right with the one seat. Unfortunately, I don’t think we have a definition yet as a team.” he added Leclerc.
Ferrari definitely beat Mercedes and Sergio Pérez. The comparison with Max Verstappen is more difficult because the Dutchman did not need to push him in the second period. Leclerc in the interview, he was not willing to move his team to third place in the performance comparison. The format of individual teams changes rapidly from weekend to weekend.
“McLaren are clearly ahead and Red Bull have a small lead over us as well. Between us and Mercedes, it changes every weekend. I can’t tell you which one is better. For some reason we were much stronger this weekend and I can’t explain it. Maybe they will be much faster in Monza, but I hope not. It’s changing very quickly,” he said Leclerc.
“At least I would say that McLaren is the best team today, Red Bull is not far behind them, although they were worse this weekend than they thought and than we thought. It’s changing fast and our role now is to understand how we can increase our portfolio more often.” Charles added.
2024-08-25 16:36:32
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