(Motorsport-Total.com) – Charles Leclerc still cannot get out of his slump after the Barcelona and Austria Grand Prix. After a strong qualifying in Spielberg, the race again saw a setback. While Lewis Hamilton repeatedly has the upper hand in direct comparison, the discussion about the Monegasque’s performance is growing at Ferrari.
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Leclerc openly describes the core problem as the driving behavior of his car in race trim. “It was an extremely difficult race. Very little grip overall. I had great difficulty getting the car and especially the tires into the right working window, especially at the rear, where I lacked a lot of grip.”
Especially the rear axle causes him great problems. A stable feeling is completely missing. “Yesterday I was actually quite satisfied with the car, but today it was not in the right direction. The rear tire was simply never there, I was just sliding and overheated the tires badly,” Leclerc continued.
Leclerc no longer finds a clear direction
The Ferrari driver seems increasingly puzzled when it comes to the car’s setup. “We chose a setup direction similar to the one I drove here last year, and that worked well in qualifying. In the race, it was less effective and I especially had problems with the rear axle, which caused me to slide a lot.”
“We had a strong weekend in Barcelona in terms of pace, so we know our upgrades work. However, these new cars are very sensitive. If you are not in the right setup window, you pay the price. That is exactly what we still need to understand better and optimize in the future.”
The big performance difference between qualifying and race also remains an unresolved issue for him: “On Saturday with little fuel, the car was quite good, but in the race I had no rear tire.”
Entire Ferrari team disappointed
Team principal Frédéric Vasseur sees his driver’s disappointment but warns against exaggerated assessments of the current situation. “I will help him, no worries. But honestly, I wouldn’t be satisfied either if he wasn’t disappointed. From P2 to P8 in the race, you have to be disappointed, just like the whole team.”
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Charles Leclerc has only five wins from 27 poles
At the same time, he makes it clear that the overall package is currently not working optimally. “It was not a good result, but we know that we did not do a good job together. We will do better at the next race.”
Internally, Ferrari is therefore continuing to work on fine-tuning the latest updates, including changes to the brakes. However, the balance of the car remains a central issue.
Hamilton pulls away meanwhile
Leclerc himself sees fine-tuning and the lack of balance of the car as only part of the problem. Much more decisive is the lack of consistency in the vehicle’s behavior. Especially the rear axle is difficult to control, regardless of track or conditions.
In direct comparison with teammate Hamilton, Leclerc currently has to give way more often. Even in free traffic, the Brit currently has the better rhythm and steadily collects more points than the Monegasque.
Before the next Grand Prix in Silverstone, the situation remains tense. Leclerc himself does not expect an easy solution to the existing problems. Thus, the British high-speed track is considered the next tough test for the current Ferrari package.
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