The British Grand Prix has not been kind to Charles Leclerc; Friday saw him miss out on FP2 after an electricial issue appeared on his SF-23. On Saturday, he managed to top the third free practice session and after a thrilling, damp qualifying sessions, he only managed to cling on to the fourth position, where he was followed by his teammate Sainz, Russell and Hamilton, separated by less than a tenth.
Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari
After the session, he revealed that the cause of missing out on the front row was a damp patch at Stowe, a spot that saw Lewis Hamilton spin earlier in the session, and saw a number of drivers losing grip.
“I think it was in the car to go for the first row, but it’s life, at the end I didn’t do a good job; I pushed a bit too much in turn 15, and that costed me quite a bit.”
“In Q3 I didn’t do exactly the lap I wanted, turn 15 I went a little bit wide. It was just a little bit wet, and I lost a little bit of grip, probably lost enough time to not be on the front row but it’s surprising to see McLaren so quick, it’s nice, I think we’re all very close so it should be an exciting day tomorrow even tho on my side I haven’t got any data because in FP2 I couldn’t do the long run.“
The monagesque was, however, optimistic about his performance adding: “Honestly Q1 and Q2 was pretty good considering how much I struggled in the last few races, and those mixed conditions on the slick tyres, I felt good today and it seems that finally the hard work that I’ve put in the last weeks or days in those conditions is paying off, so that’s good”
Photo credit: Scuderia Ferrari
In Q1, both Ferrari drivers made scathing radio comments while battling for track position; After Sainz passed him for position on the track, Leclerc said: “Nice Carlos, nice, good overtake in the last corner…”
Sainz then said: “It’s a bit unfair what you’re asking me to do there. Sacrifice my tyre temperature. But anyway, whatever. Also, I am P4, he is P3, I am more at risk.”
When asked about the situation, he attributed to the immense stress that both drivers were under, insisting that they overreacted saying: “In the pitlane, it’s something that we were expecting as we are always trying to get out the cars at the same time as it’s better to manage the cars coming.
“But then on track obviously this is where we had a bit more of a discussion. We have one race where I have the priority to choose whether I want to be in front or behind, and one race Carlos has the priority to choose whether he wants to be in front or behind.
“I had the choice here and I decided to be in front, then at the end we were very tight on timing and I think it was very difficult for us to know whether we were going to get past or not before the flag and Carlos decided to overtake.
“It is not ideal, we will discuss about it, it had no influence, so no big deal.
“Obviously with the adrenaline inside the car and you don’t know at that point if you’re going to make it, the radio message was probably a bit more aggressive than it should have been.”
Due to missing out on FP2, Leclerc has no long runs under his belt, which has led to him to missing out on collecting valuable data on a circuit that demands a great balance.
“It’s not ideal but at the end I think we maximised everything since that issue in FP2 and we are in a good place anyway, everything is possible tomorrow.”
