“I’m very happy that this race is over.” This statement alone would be enough to describe the race that Charles Leclerc starred in at the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix that took place this afternoon at the Red Bull Ring.
The Ferrari driver was hit at the start by Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, having been crushed between the Australian’s McLaren on the outside and the Red Bull RB20 of Sergio Perez on the inside. The contact caused the front wing on the red number 16 to break, forcing the Monegasque to immediately return to the pits and thus compromising his race.
“Well, first of all we lost a lot with the front wing change at the start, then we had a whole stint behind Lando where I couldn’t overtake because otherwise I would have got blue flags and would have had to let him go again.”
“Both things made my race pace very difficult. When we had to use the pace to come back, we were stuck behind Lando and the rest struggled. Firstly, we are not competitive enough. And then, obviously, our race was massively compromised after the first corner.”
Speaking about the contact at the start of the race, Leclerc explained how he tried to brake to avoid ending up crushed between the cars of Piastri and Perez, but above all the Mexican was considered by Charles to be too optimistic in his maneuver inside the corner.
“I mean, I tried to hold back, but I think… I think Checo was a little optimistic, it never ends well in the first corner if you try to go three-way. The double-wide is already difficult enough, so the triple-wide was very difficult. Oscar didn’t know, Checo was on the inside and I was a passenger. And then when you brake, Checo brakes even later and so once you’re there, you’re there. So I tried to manage the situation as best as I could, but it was impossible.”
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Ferrari showed at the Red Bull Ring that they are the fourth force in the World Championship at the moment. The regression compared to the first part of the spring was born with the introduction of a new aerodynamic package 2 races ago aimed at giving more aerodynamic load to the SF-24. According to Leclerc, the results have been seen, but the innovations have also given rise to collateral problems that the team has not yet been able to resolve.
“The aerodynamic load values brought by the new package are those expected and I confirm it, but this has led to other limitations that we must examine, because since we introduced it we have had some difficulties. Today we set the car in a completely opposite way, so I believe that there are many things to learn from the two configurations, but we will analyze and compare them.”
“The truth is that in Formula 1 there are few coincidences, especially when it comes to two weekends in a row in which we struggle. We therefore have to examine and analyze the situation. But we are seeing the numbers, so it means that we have done a step forward. However, there are other limitations that we need to examine to try to eliminate them.”
With the British Grand Prix so close – it will be held next weekend at Silverstone – it will be difficult for Ferrari to remedy the limitations that have emerged in recent weeks. Leclerc is aware of this and is already covering his tracks.
“I feel that Silverstone will be another difficult weekend for us. If we look at the last 3 weekends we have struggled, so we have not yet found a solution to improve things.”
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