Charles Leclerc believes he was on the right track to win the Hungarian Grand Prix however blames a chassis situation for costing him efficiency late within the race, proscribing his criticism of Ferrari.
Main from pole place in the course of the first two stints of the race, Leclerc began complaining to Ferrari on group radio, saying, “I can really feel what we mentioned earlier than the race. We have to talk about these issues earlier than doing them.”
A later message stated, “We’re going to lose this race with this stuff. We’re dropping a lot time”, earlier than Leclerc then closely criticized the group as he slipped behind each McLaren drivers.
“That is so extremely irritating, we’ve misplaced all competitiveness,” he continued. “You simply need to take heed to me; I’d have discovered a distinct approach of managing these points. Now it’s simply undrivable. Undrivable. It’s a miracle if we end on the rostrum.”
Leclerc’s phrases have been correct as George Russell overtook him and pulled 15s clear in third place, however the Monegasque says he was knowledgeable of a distinct trigger for his lack of tempo after the race.
“I have to take again the phrases I stated on the radio as a result of I believed that it was coming from one factor, however then I bought much more element since I bought out of the automobile, and it was really a difficulty coming from the chassis and nothing that we may have achieved otherwise,” Leclerc stated.
“Began to really feel the difficulty on lap 40 or one thing like that, after which it bought worse, lap after lap after lap, and in the direction of the tip we have been 2s off the tempo. The automobile was simply undrivable, however once more, I repeat myself, this was a difficulty and it is an outlier. It should not occur once more.
“I am nonetheless very upset. We’ve had one alternative this yr to win a race, which I believe was this weekend. The primary stint was good. The primary laps of the second stint have been actually good as properly. I believe we have been on tempo to try to win that race. The final stint was a catastrophe after I began to have a difficulty with the chassis.”
Leclerc says Ferrari was unsure of the trigger primarily based on the info it was seeing in the course of the race itself, however he knew the victory was getting away from him at first of his remaining stint.
“I believe it was fairly difficult,” he stated. “In any other case, we in all probability would have identified and they might have informed me. Apparently it wasn’t as apparent on knowledge, nevertheless, now we are able to undoubtedly verify that there was an issue.
“After I began to really feel the problems, I did not actually know the place that got here from. I believed it was from a change we did on the entrance wing on the pit cease, being too aggressive. Then, after all, it bought rather a lot worse. It appeared a bit off to me. After I first felt the very unusual habits of the automobile, I believed, ‘If that is staying, it should slip away from us.’”
