Leclerc’s Race Form Rises Amid Sainz’s Challenge

Charles Leclerc responded impressively when challenged by teammate Carlos Sainz, resulting in noticeable improvements in his race performances.

Jock Clear, Ferrari’s performance engineer, was impressed by Charles Leclerc’s ability to respond during the few instances when Carlos Sainz challenged him for the number one spot at Ferrari. This is how the Monegasque notably improved his race performances.

“I think he reacted well to having a very strong teammate,” said Clear. “We’ve talked a lot about Carlos’s qualities, and the fact is, Carlos probably doesn’t have the same qualifying pace Charles can show.”

“But you look at Singapore last year, and it really hit Charles hard. That was a race where Charles would have gone in as the favorite to win. He usually approaches Singapore with a lot of confidence, and of course, Carlos dealt him a big blow by taking it away from him.”

“These kinds of moments made him focus on really getting the job done on Sunday. That’s not to say he never thought that before, but it means he slightly shifted his focus.”

“It was no longer about thinking, ‘we just need the best qualifying car, do one lap, and then everything will fall into place on Sunday.’ So I think you’re seeing a better representation of Charles as a race driver, and of all of us as a race team.”

Despite the low win ratio compared to his pole positions, Clear defends Leclerc and his race performance: “We all know what he’s capable of; we’ve seen it for several years. His reputation in qualifying has certainly solidified over the years.”

“People used to tell me, two or three years ago, ‘yes, but he’s nowhere near as good in races as he is in qualifying.’ And you think that’s not really fair, because it’s simply that he’s exceptionally good in qualifying.”

However, the balance has shifted this year, with Leclerc winning two races after starting from fourth on the grid: “This year, you’ve really seen the result of development both in the car and in the driver.”

“We recognized that there are no points on Saturday, and all the points come on Sunday. Therefore, I think it’s true that we’ve slightly shifted our focus to make the car a better race car.”

“Tire management is, of course, always a hot topic. But we’ve seen Charles put in some very strong races. I remember in Austria in 2022, where Max [Verstappen] really struggled with tire degradation, and Charles won that race with a great performance.”

Once again, Clear defends Leclerc’s race results: “It’s not that Charles was never good with tires, I think it’s that we, as a team, weren’t very focused on tire management.”

“So I think what we’ve seen this year is the result of our work on tire management. Charles has learned from previous years and has refined his skills, both in tire management and race management.”