The optimistic information for Ferrari from the Barcelona weekend was the third podium of the season (secured by Charles Leclerc) and second place within the Constructors’ Championship standings.
The much less encouraging information is that there was no shift triggered by the versatile wing laws—McLaren stays out of attain, and Purple Bull isn’t fairly inside vary both. After qualifying, Charles Leclerc had taken duty for the alternatives made in preparation for the 66-lap race (specifically, sacrificing a set of softs in Q3 to have an additional set of mediums within the race), and judging by the ultimate end result, he was proper.
Nevertheless, Charles Leclerc’s deserves have been largely in his driving. A vital distinction within the Monegasque’s race got here within the first half-lap, when he handed Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, instantly latching onto Lewis Hamilton’s slipstream, because the Briton would later need to let him via as a consequence of a transparent distinction in tempo.
As soon as in fourth place, although, Charles Leclerc’s race appeared to hit a ceiling. Through the last stint, his tempo on the second set of mediums wasn’t notably quick—George Russell behind him lowered the hole from seven to 4 seconds. The protection automotive proved providential, permitting Charles Leclerc to change again to softs, which helped him defend from George Russell and assault Max Verstappen, who had rejoined on hards.
There’s, nevertheless, a small thriller surrounding Charles Leclerc’s last laps. His lap occasions weren’t spectacular, and when Frederic Vasseur was requested whether or not there had been an issue with the automotive (Toto Wolff talked about a attainable oil leak), his reply was an oblique affirmation: “We had a small drawback, nevertheless it had nothing to do with an oil leak.”
On the finish of the race, Charles Leclerc compelled a smile. Third place wasn’t the end result he had hoped to greet as excellent news, however in mild of this primary third of the season, it successfully is. “Yesterday we determined to sacrifice qualifying a bit to have a greater race,” he commented, “however I didn’t count on to finish up on the rostrum, so I’m very pleased. The primary two stints have been very optimistic, the final one on the mediums was a bit extra sophisticated. However then the security automotive got here, which gave us the chance to suit softs once more, and we made essentially the most of it.”
A really completely different environment was felt on the opposite aspect of the storage. Lewis Hamilton described the race as one among his worst experiences, and when requested if there was not less than one thing optimistic to remove, his reply was blunt: “Zero.” Frederic Vasseur’s response was clear: “I believe (Hamilton) spent 70% of the race forward of Russell, and I don’t assume Russell mentioned his race was a catastrophe. However then we had an issue together with his automotive over the last stint, earlier than the security automotive. The end result isn’t good, however he did 45 laps in entrance of Russell.”
As soon as once more, the Scuderia’s workforce principal didn’t wish to disclose the difficulty that occurred on automotive quantity 44.
“In the present day’s race was removed from what I had hoped for,” concluded Lewis. “I used to be assured earlier than the race, after a great qualifying and with the automotive seemingly bettering in efficiency. However within the race, the steadiness wasn’t what I wished and we lacked tempo from the beginning.
“In the intervening time we don’t have a proof; we’ll want to research the info and perceive whether or not there was some type of drawback. Congratulations to Charles, who did a fantastic job and deserved the rostrum.” Within the final 5 races, Leclerc has reached the rostrum thrice—Hamilton hasn’t been there as soon as since carrying crimson. Discontent is starting to floor…
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