In the car the frustration was big again at Charles Leclerc: No wonder, since he could not transform his poles into a win in Hungary on Sunday. Incredible: From the last 16 races in which Leclerc started from the very front, he only won one!
Reason enough for a full -grown scolding tirade on the radio: “We have to discuss such things before we simply implement them,” Leclerc initially cryptically says during the race: “We will lose this race with such things. We lose so much time.”
A little later, after this is clear that Ferrari actually thrown away all the chances of winning, he pushes after: “This is so incredibly frustrating. We have lost any competitiveness. You just have to listen to me – I would have found a different way to deal with these problems.”
And further: “Now the car is simply inappropriate, wrong. It would be a miracle if we still get on the podium.”
Leclerc apologizes for freaking out on the radio
After all: Leclerc should be right with the last assessment. After he has to let the McLaren pilots go, George Russell also hatched eight rounds before the end, the podium is gone. But then the real surprise follows – because after getting out, Leclerc still rows back with his statements.
“First of all, I have to apologize for what I said about radio. I thought the problem had a certain cause, but after I got out of the car, I got significantly more information. In fact, the problem came from the chassis and was nothing that we could have prevented from another strategy,” says Leclerc at once.
He does not want to reveal exactly what it is all about, but explains: “I felt the problem from about round 40, and it got worse with every round. Towards the end we were two seconds slower than the pace – the car was simply wrong.” The reason for this, however, is “a technical problem, a outlier – something like that should not happen again”.
Alone: While the Scuderia star speaks of a suddenly occurred chassis problem, Mercedes-Pilot Russell has a completely different theory to Ferrari’s difficulties: “I saw how slowly he was, so I already thought that something was wrong,” says the Brit, who thinks the reason: “The only thing we can imagine was that they had been too deep and therefore in the last phase of the race is Had to increase tire pressure. “
Hard bandages against Russell: moved on the brake
Russell justified: “You also used an engine mode that brings less power at the end of the straight power – and that is exactly where you have the strongest abrasion on the underbody.” Russell countered to the fact that Leclerc has established the problem with the chassis: “Well, of course, he will of course not tell you that they were so close to being illegal. This is the only thing we can smile together based on the lap times and the engine mode they have driven.”
The fact is: Russell is not easy to speak on Leclerc after the race anyway, because in the fight for third place the Ferrari driver goes far too far in the British opinion. After his first overtaking attempt before curve one in round 61, the Brit already complained that Leclerc has moved on the brake – in the second attempt, a circulation later in the same place, Leclerc then does even clearer, it almost comes to collision.
For the stewards, Leclercs is defensive behavior over the limit, and it is pouring a five-second penalty for the Scuderia star. “I knew that I was at the limit. I have no strong opinion about that, but the feeling that I changed the line before braking, then slowed down and the car gave up towards the curve – that’s how I always do it,” says Leclerc.
“But I can imagine that George has complained loudly about funk again-that is nothing new for him,” adds the Monegasse, although he does the matters against the background of the previous problems: “It doesn’t particularly bother me, especially not in a race like this. If in the end a Safety car had come and I would have been lost because of the five-second penalty, then I would probably have been much more frustrated. But that was not the case. “
Klien can understand punishment against Leclerc
For ex-formula 1 pilot and ServusTV expert Christian Klien, Lelcercs action against Russell is a clear case: “He was frustrated with the whole race, with the location, and then he simply blocked it overly,” judges the Austrian: “So that was above the limit.
“It was already moving on the brake, very clear. This is also such a gentleman’s agree that you don’t do. And that was already too violent in my opinion, so you can understand George Russell,” says the TV expert: “If the bikes touch the bikes at the speed, then one can climb. It doesn’t have to be.
But Leclerc apparently saw red out of sheer frustration with the lost chance of winning. The race started so well for the Scuderia driver, who can defend the lead at the start: “The first stint was perfect, the first rounds in the second stint were also very good. I think we had the pace to fight. But the last stint was a disaster from the moment when the problem with the chassis was performed. “
In retrospect, Leclerc takes on his team: “I think it was probably not so easy to recognize, otherwise they would probably have told me something. Apparently it was not immediately apparent in the data.” The Monegasse explains: “When I started to feel the problems, I didn’t know exactly where they came from. At first I thought it was a change on the front wing at the pit stop that we were too aggressive.”
Vasseur: “The last stint was a disaster”
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur also confirms: “Perhaps the misunderstanding with the radio message is also related to it – he asked us whether we had made a mistake in the front wing, so when it comes to setting. But that was not the case. We just lost the PACE.” Over a second per round, Leclerc lost directly from the beginning of the final stint.
“Maybe it was a snowball effect,” says the Frenchman: “To be honest, the situation was quite strange. We had the first 40 rounds of the race under control – the first stint was very good, the second was a little more difficult, but still manageable,” said Vasseur: “The last stint was a disaster – the car was very difficult to drive, the balance was no longer right.”
The Ferrari team boss still has no answers: “And to be honest: We have not yet known exactly what happened. We have to investigate whether something may have broken on the chassis or the like.” He also refers to it: “The car is still in the Parc Ferme, so it’s very early.” Vasseur leaves no doubt that something fundamental must have happened:
“At one point I even thought that we would not end the race at all – the happier we can be that we got points with P4 at all.” Nevertheless, he shows understanding for Leclerc’s anger: “It is very frustrating because we had our first poles of the season, the first two stints ran properly, and then we completely lost the pace – and the performance of the entire weekend.”
Leclerc: “Our only real chance this year”
The fact that the previously demonstrated performance increase after the summer break is just so reproducible, at least Leclerc does not believe, “says:” I think McLaren is currently the strongest team – even today they were extremely quick. What gave me hope for a victory was the fact that I started from the pole. Because of the “Dirty Air” it is very difficult to overtake. “
This is confirmed by Leclerc: “Oscar was probably a bit faster than me, but he couldn’t over.” Until the ominous problem occurred. “I don’t think we are going into the second half of the season with the feeling that we could win somewhere – and that is exactly what makes the disappointment even bigger,” said Leclerc: “Because we knew that this was probably our only real chance this year – and we should have used it.”