Ferrari literally had the perfect starting position for the Monaco Grand Prix. Both of his cars stood in the front row. Nevertheless, Scuderia celebrated “only” second place. And an angry Charles Leclerc criticized the strategic kiks that cost him the lead and even a place on the podium.
Monachan Leclerc is accompanied by bad luck at the Formula 1 Grand Prix at home. In his debut year in 2018, his brakes at Alfa Romeo failed and he beat it into Ross Brendon Hartley’s Toro.
A year later, he was already racing for Ferrari, a flat tire damaged his car floor so much that he eventually had to resign.
In the year 2020, the Monaco Grand Prix did not take place and last year he was in pole position, but due to a damaged gearbox he did not start from the race at all.
And this year? This year, Leclerca was baked by the red team from Maranello. A quick start on the water played into his hands and the whole introductory part secured a leading position with a lead of a few seconds. But misfortune does not go in the mountains, but in Scuderia.
At first, her strategic team spent an ideal time exchanging “wet” tires for transitional ones, which Red Bull was the first to do with the later winner Sergio Pérez. Only then followed the Monachan, who in the meantime lost seven seconds to the Mexican pilot in a single lap.
But it should have been even worse. For the next four laps, Leclerc drove to the depot again to call Pirelli without a sample. But at the same time, a key failure came, which a 24-year-old racer (and not only him) is now asking for a thorough examination.
“Box. Box. Box,” came the familiar command on Lecler’s radio ordering a pit stop.
“Stay on the track! Stay on the track! Stay on the track!” only a few moments later came the desperate call of his racing engineer.
This was followed by several swearing in the cockpit and a series of questions: “Why? What? What are you doing?”
The reason for Lecler’s anger was the fact that teammate Carlos Sainz junior was changing the tires right in front of him, so he had to wait a while. At the same time, the same maneuver was performed by Red Bull without delay by Pérez or Max Verstappen.
Ferrari simply failed tactically once again. Similarly, mistakes have occurred frequently in recent seasons, but the Maranello team was not interested in the title, as Mercedes and Red Bull were at the forefront.
The card turned this year. Leclerc won the first race of the season and also led the championship until the last Grand Prix in Barcelona.
An episode from one of the trainings has already indicated that something is wrong with Scuderia. Mick Schumacher remained standing in the depot and was closed because of it. Then Leclerc could hear conflicting information: “The entrance to the depot is closed. Box, box.”
With such confusion, the Italians, after fifteen long years, can hardly live up to the coveted world title. Fortunately for them, only a third of the season is behind us and there is a lot to fix in the remaining 15 Grand Prix. But also spoil…
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