Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc revealed that the late Virtual and full Safety Car cost the Ferrari driver a few positions at the Imola GP.
Charles Leclerc finished 6th at the Imola GP after a whirlwind of safety cars and a battle with Alex Albon. The driver brought home a less-than-ideal performance in front of Ferrari’s tifosi at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
Starting 11th on the grid, Leclerc expected a tough afternoon with the circuit being known for difficulties overtaking, but smart tyre management and strategy enabled him to slither up the field until the second safety car.
Safety Car
During the race, a safety car was issued that caused the Monégasques’ position to change and revealed Ferrari’s strategy.
Speaking after the race, Leclerc was disappointed and reflected on the safety car, as he said: “Very disappointed. Everything was going towards us in the first stint. Then there was a safety car which cost us many, many positions.
“Then there was a second safety car which cost us quite a few other positions because we started to overheat and we couldn’t change the tyres because we didn’t have anything available, so it was a big shame.”
He added later, when asked if there was any chance at a podium finish, to which he said: “Not with the safety car that we had on our side. The safety cars were just in the wrong place with the strategy I had chosen.”
Charles Leclerc gives take on Alex Albon incident
During the closing stages of the Imola GP, Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon battled for fourth spot, but the Williams driver ended up going through the gravel in Turn 2 after a tough battle.
Alex Albon had the DRS advantage before attempting to go round the outside of Tamburello, to which Albon had to abort in the gravel ahead of turn 3.
To which, Leclerc was angrily forced to hand the spot back to Albon. When reflecting on this after the race, Leclerc said: “I knew that it was going to be one of those ones that is going to be very tricky. But once you go for the braking point, then there’s no way to back off anymore.”
He added: “That was not my intention. I obviously wanted to try and keep that position, and I’ve done my best.
“Was it over the limit or not? I will check back the footage. But yes, I’ve given it all. I knew that I had to, with the tyres I was on at that time.
“I couldn’t leave anything.”
Racing guidelines
As the FIA impose more and more rules on the Formula 1 grid, in the name of safety and the racing sport itself, many drivers have made their voices known on the issue that it stops racing from being competitive.
When asked if Leclerc agrees with this, he undublty agreed, as he said: “It’s true. We all have the rules in our heads, and we always try to play with them, which is what I was trying to do today.
“Sometimes, on those rules, you think about a centimetre is enough to be within the rules or without the rules. Judging it at 250 is a bit tricky.
He continued about the incident with Alex Albon and said: “I thought I was just in. Obviously, from outside, it doesn’t look so nice because there’s one car in the gravel.
“But I’ll look back at it. I’m always very honest with myself. If I think that I’ve done a mistake, I’ll say it to Alex, but for now, I don’t think I did.”
When pushed further on the matter and asked if he knew the solution, he believed that there would never be a solution to make all the drivers happy and that drivers just have to accept that.
Leclerc said: “I don’t think we’ll ever have a situation where everybody’s happy. That’s my honest view on it, I think there will always be someone unhappy about it.
“It’s very difficult to please everyone, I don’t think we’ll ever find that sweet spot. I think we’ve got to accept it.
“When you’re penalised for something, you’ve just got to accept it. There will never be a rulebook that describes absolutely every situation. Even if there is, it will be impossible for us to remember all those rules for all those different situations.”
Ferrari’s situation after Imola
Ferrari has had issues this season, with Leclerc and teammate Lewis Hamilton both sharing their thoughts on the matter, whether that be the car or the lack of pace.
Leclerc sits in 5th position in the Drivers Championship below Mercedes’ George Russell and hopes to dig himself out of the situation that Ferrari is in, as he said: “By working hard. This is the obvious answer, but that’s what we are doing. I don’t think there’s any silver bullet to the situation we are in.
“We just need to work and try to understand where this problem that we have in qualifying comes from. Which is what is slowing us down at the moment.“
Home race weekend
Next weekend, the F1 calendar arrives at Monaco, Leclerc’s home race, where he aims to shine and compete, once again as he won his home race in 2024.
But the Monégasque is honest about what lies ahead for him and Ferrari in Monaco.
He said: “I think Monaco is exposing quite a few weaknesses of our car.
“So i don’t know. But there are also many things that you cannot really expect in Monaco. The amount of risk you take in qualifying. The car is set up in a very different way. So I hope we would be surprised positively.”
