Having delivered a faultless drive on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc claims that he doesn’t need to lose extra factors within the championship battle as he has already suffered a giant blow to his championship aspirations.
Ferrari appeared to battle for tempo throughout the apply classes, and so important have been their struggles that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been pressured to bolt on a second set of recent softs in Q1 to progress into the center phase of qualifying.
Nonetheless, the SF25 got here within the race alive. Leclerc began on the medium and managed to run a really lengthy opening stint, managing his tyres higher than another drivers.
The Monegasque then switched to the exhausting for his ultimate stint, and though he dropped down the order, he loved a giant tyre offset and was capable of get previous Russell. Within the closing phases, Leclerc was pressured to carry off a late cost from Norris, however he managed to bag his first podium of the season.
His team-mate Hamilton additionally began on the mediums, and he additionally tried to increase his first stint. He was unlucky powerful as he misplaced essential time when Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen overtook him on their recent tyres.
He displayed a terrific tempo on his second stint, and closed in on his Mercedes alternative Andrea Kimi Antonelli, however he was unable to maneuver any additional ahead than P7.
Reflecting on his faultless driver in Jeddah, Leclerc famous: “A minimum of I really feel like we have maximized completely the whole lot we might have this weekend. There wasn’t something extra within the automotive. I believe we have to concentrate on qualifying as a result of it has been a really very long time I have never been as pleased with the automotive steadiness.
“I really feel very comfortable with the automotive in a method that I do know I can extract the utmost out of the automotive as a rule, however sadly, the automotive potential is simply not adequate to struggle for higher in qualifying. Within the race, the nice automotive steadiness had outcomes. We have been all stunned by our tempo in free air on the primary stint. That was actually good.
“All the pieces else was completely executed. Technique was nice. Pit stops have been nice the entire season and in addition the entire of final 12 months as effectively. There wasn’t rather more we might have carried out.
Requested about his offset technique that noticed him prolong his first stint longer than anybody else on the medium tyre, Leclerc mentioned: “The automotive simply felt good. To be sincere, I used to be struggling lots after I was behind George with the automotive steadiness – quite a lot of understeer – and I hate that.
“As quickly as he pitted, the entrance got here alive and the automotive felt lots higher. Then I might handle the fronts a bit bit higher, and the efficiency got here a lot better as soon as I used to be in free air.
Whereas Ferrari significantly struggled for one-lap tempo in qualifying, the SF25 displayed a really spectacular efficiency within the 50-lap Jeddah race. Leclerc has revealed that Ferrari’s most important concern was the primary two corners in qualifying the place the SF25 misplaced nearly 4 tenths of a second in comparison with the rivals’ automobiles.
“I believe we’re shut on the race tempo. I believe free air dictates a bit bit who’s going to win the race. That is all the time been the case. Perhaps this 12 months a bit bit greater than different years. And clearly when that’s the case, qualifying is extra vital. However sadly, for 2 years, we’re simply struggling in qualifying to place the whole lot collectively.
“This weekend the issue is it’s not all the time the identical concern. This time it was 4 tenths within the first three corners. For the remainder of the lap, we have been quick. And now immediately within the race, truly, the primary sector was most likely one of the best sector we had. So we have got to take a look at that. Clearly, there are solutions in what we’re doing, and we’re doing one thing incorrect, clearly.
“We have got to search out it. We can not lose too many races earlier than discovering it as a result of we’re already 50 factors down within the Drivers’ Championship. We’re not taking a look at it an excessive amount of, however 50 factors is a giant quantity. I do not need to be dropping extra factors than that within the subsequent few races.
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Requested about his struggle with Lando Norris, Leclerc mentioned that whereas he was not too fearful in regards to the McLaren’s tempo, he was fairly involved in regards to the backmarkers.
“I knew it was going to be tight. He was very fast. I wasn’t fearful, however I knew it was going to be shut. I didn’t know what to anticipate with the site visitors. At one level, I needed to keep away from, I believe, Bortoleto and I went within the marbles – misplaced quite a lot of time. Lando almost obtained into my DRS vary, which might’ve made it trickier to maintain him behind.
“However he obtained caught round 1.2, 1.3 seconds for the previous couple of laps. I used to be blissful to maintain the place and to have the primary podium of the season for the staff. By way of monitor familiarity, I don’t assume it has any influence on efficiency in the meanwhile. We simply want a greater automotive.
“If we begin additional up, we’ll have our probabilities. If not, we’re all too shut within the race to make a distinction. We actually must focus and put the whole lot collectively in qualifying,”
