Leclerc delves into Ferrari’s unexpected race performance, aiming to consistently harness this newfound speed.
While Ferrari had faced a particularly challenging weekend at Zandvoort, the race revealed a dramatically different side of the team, unexpectedly allowing Charles Leclerc to secure a podium finish, to his own surprise as well.
The Monegasque driver struggles to explain why the SF-24 was so effective that Sunday.
“It’s a very good question. We need to understand why we were nine tenths off in qualifying and suddenly very strong in the race. The car was exactly the same. On Saturday, we fought like crazy. And on Sunday, we were strong. It’s these sorts of things we need to work on. I think as much as we analyze all the unexpected issues we face throughout a season, we also need to understand when we do something right. At the moment, I don’t think we as a team have the explanation. So, it’s an excellent result. I am very happy to be on the podium. And I think it’s a very nice surprise. However, we need to understand in order to be at our best more often.”
Leclerc’s remarkable result hung by a thread as Oscar Piastri rapidly closed in during the final phase of the Grand Prix, and the Ferrari driver admits it was not easy to keep the McLaren F1 behind him until the checkered flag.
“It wasn’t because my engineer was telling me about Oscar’s lap times, which, when he had clean air, were much faster than mine, almost a second I believe. When he got close, I started to push a bit more and gained five tenths. And I think with the dirty air, he probably lost three or four tenths. He managed to stay behind and put me under pressure for two or three laps, but he couldn’t stay because of the overheating. It was a very good strategy. I did not expect to keep this third place until the end, but we did a great job as a team. I don’t think we could have done more.”
This marks Charles Leclerc’s second consecutive podium, following his green table finish before the break at Spa. Does this bode well for upcoming races?
“Once again, it’s very, very hard to predict. If you had asked me this question on Saturday, I would have said it would be very difficult. But after the race, it looks much better. If we can figure out what’s happening with our car, then I am quite optimistic about the future. But for now, we haven’t quite figured it out yet.”
The upcoming circuits, including Ferrari’s home race at Monza, should be more favorable to the Scuderia, which makes the Monaco driver say that the Zandvoort result is even better for team morale.
“It’s very important. I think we had three or four races where we did a lot of experimenting to try to understand what the fundamental issues with our car are for medium-term development. We have an evolution coming very soon. Now, I can say it, because Fred (Vasseur) has said, that it will be the case at Monza. And I hope it will help us close the gap. But until these improvements, I have always said that our priority was to limit the damage. And this Sunday, we were aiming for sixth place. Realistically, I think that’s what we were fighting for on paper. However, after three or four laps, the pace was there. And once again, it’s a good surprise to have finished third. So these are good points. Now, I hope the improvements will help us make a step forward.”
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Leclerc seeks to ‘understand’ why Ferrari was so fast in the race. Leclerc seeks to ‘understand’ why Ferrari was so fast in the race.
