Leclerc’s reflections on Brazil reveal key issues in setup and strategy, leaving Ferrari short of a stronger result.
Charles Leclerc endured a challenging race at Interlagos, and while he considers his fourth-place finish a relatively positive result, he has pinpointed a few reasons why he couldn’t achieve more. Specifically, he highlighted the setup of his F1 car and Ferrari’s strategy choices.
“The race was very long and tricky, and the drivers on the podium are those who didn’t make the slightest mistake—they truly deserve it,” Leclerc stated. “I have mixed feelings about our race.”
“On one hand, it’s a bit disappointing because we struggled to keep the car on the track in those conditions, especially towards the end of the race, due to how we set up the car. On the other hand, we finished ahead of both McLarens, which was a pleasant surprise and supports our fight in the Constructors’ Championship.”
Unfortunately for Ferrari, McLaren still outscored the Scuderia, thanks to both their drivers finishing in the points. The Italian team might have reversed the outcome by delaying their pit stop, as Max Verstappen, the Alpine drivers, and Valtteri Bottas did.
“It was a mistake. But to be fair, in a race like this, it’s incredibly difficult to avoid strategic errors, given the sheer number of decisions that have to be made. If you look closely, I think only the top three avoided mistakes in such a race.”
“We were on the other side of things—we stopped. I wanted clean air, so I asked the team to get me into clean air. They called me in that lap, but unfortunately, the pit stop, or rather the time in and out on the wet track, was much longer than we anticipated.”
“I found myself caught in traffic with Ollie [Bearman] and Lewis [Hamilton], and from that point, I realised we were losing a lot. A safety car came out, and we lost three or four positions.”
The Monegasque driver admits, however, that he made a setup mistake, which made his SF-24 challenging to handle: “I think I am partly responsible, as we decided on the setup with the team, and I wanted to go in this direction. However, it was clearly not the right one. The pace simply wasn’t there.”
“We were pleased with qualifying; we weren’t too bad. With fresh tyres and a low fuel load, you can get more out of the car, but in the race, we were nowhere. More than nowhere, it was extremely hard to drive—extremely difficult to avoid mistakes.”
Despite Ferrari not conceding too many points, Leclerc takes some satisfaction in finishing ahead of McLaren, which keeps Maranello’s hopes alive in the fight for the Constructors’ title against the British team.
“In the end, looking at all of this, the one thing we can be somewhat pleased about is finishing ahead of both McLarens. Losing only four points in the Constructors’ standings limits the damage on a weekend where they looked so strong. Now, we need to give everything in the last three races.”
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Leclerc’s Setup Struggles and Strategy Cost Brazil Podium Spot Leclerc’s Setup Struggles and Strategy Cost Brazil Podium Spot
