Leclerc attributes his Baku defeat to McLaren’s ‘Mini DRS’. The Ferrari ace now eyes a comeback in Singapore.
Charles Leclerc finished second in Azerbaijan and admits he was caught off guard by Oscar Piastri. However, the Ferrari driver criticizes, for the first time, McLaren F1’s flexible wing, which he believes prevented him from attacking the Australian.
“Oscar made a good move on me in Baku. I knew it was an opportunity for him to pass, but I wasn’t too worried. I knew he could take the lead, but I also knew I was just starting to warm up the tires, and I didn’t want to attack them, so I didn’t want to start getting foolish in terms of defense,” said Leclerc.
Nevertheless, both McLaren and Ferrari were in the lower half of the top speed charts, even though Leclerc maintains that the MCL38 was too fast: “However, I was wrong because obviously his straight-line speed was really, really good and after that, I never had the chance to pass him again. Today I understand why with their mini DRS wing.”
“We’ve already had an internal dialogue about this. I think Fred (Vasseur) will delve a bit more into this issue with you in the media tomorrow (at the FIA press conference), but from what I’ve been told, it’s quite controversial. So, yes. I’ll leave this topic and let Fred comment further.”
“McLaren will still be ahead” in Singapore
This weekend in Singapore, the Monegasque hopes to make further progress with some innovations on his SF-24. A particularly innovative new front wing seems to be making its appearance: “We are doing good work. We are bringing a small improvement this weekend which, I hope, will help us for the rest of the season.”
“And now, we will obviously try to consistently outperform Mercedes and Red Bull. McLaren will still be a bit ahead. But I believe we have the potential to do well on this track too and that we can fight for the victory.”
“We must proceed race by race, as while we hope to be competitive here, it’s also true that in Austin we will need to verify the effectiveness of the improvements we introduced at Monza on a more traditional circuit than these urban tracks.”
“I expect McLaren to remain competitive until the end of the season and for Red Bull to soon close the gap, so it will be an interesting end to the championship. But it’s better not to create too many expectations: for the constructors’ title, I think there are more chances because this season we have almost always managed to maximize the result, and that has kept us in the fight despite some races not meeting expectations.”
“Replicating” the victorious performance of 2023
Carlos Sainz won last year in Singapore, and the Spaniard explains that he is looking to repeat that performance: “I’ve spent time in the simulator, as always, but I’ve also studied in detail how we executed last year’s race. The goal is clear: to replicate it.”
“Unlike Baku, I really like the Marina Bay circuit and I’m eager to hit the track to see how competitive we are. On this circuit, it’s important to run as much as possible to get a feel for the track and then you need to be well-prepared for qualifying, as grid position can make the difference between fighting for a victory and having to settle for points.”
“Once again, the smallest details can make the difference. And we are very well prepared for this weekend. I’m eager for a second consecutive victory here, clearly, our F1 is capable of it.”
Sainz is impressed to see that Ferrari is close to its rivals in the standings: “The positive aspect is that we are within reach. We are within reach even after a very difficult part of the season where we made mistakes with our developments and didn’t progress enough.”
“Now, it seems we’re back on pace, but to be sure, we need to go to circuits where Ferrari hasn’t been as strong in the past, like Austin, Sao Paulo, or places like that.”
“I believe we can be fast in Singapore, even in Las Vegas, but to realize that we can contend for the world championship, we must wait for the other circuits.”
“No hard feelings” between him and Pérez
He and Sergio Pérez had an incident in Baku, and while they initially blamed each other, they quickly concluded it was just an accident, and they were just very frustrated about missing a podium.
“In fact, we were sitting awkwardly next to each other for 20 minutes in the medical center, both hooked up to heart rate monitors and checking our vital signs.”
“We looked at each other and said, ‘man, what happened out there?’ And we said, ‘I don’t know.’ ‘But I promise I didn’t do anything wrong to you, Checo. I didn’t close the door. I did nothing.'”
“We were discussing and trying to analyze what had happened. And suddenly, after those 20 minutes, we said: this sport is so crappy sometimes. How can we be here and miss the podium? We had it. Charles was dropping off with his hard tires.”
“We were probably both going to attack him. And we were both sitting there, wondering: ‘How the hell did we manage to not finish on the podium?’ It was a podium at the end, and we even joked about it a bit, so no hard feelings towards each other.”
- You may also like>Russell: A Tenth Could Shift F1 Odds in Singapore
- Also make sure you follow us on social media>Facebook and>Twitter
Ferrari’s Hopes High for Singapore Surge Ferrari’s Hopes High for Singapore Surge. f1 2024 Ferrari’s Hopes High for Singapore Surge
