Leclerc makes excuses for Ferrari's results: 'Exposed myself to risks'

F1 News

Leclerc gives excuse for disappointing Ferrari results
15 August at 20:00
  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

The dizzy heights of success for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc at the Monaco Grand Prix seems a long time ago now. In fact, Ferrari have only stood on the podium twice since then, both coming with a spoonful of good fortune. The man from Monaco has explained why he has found it difficult in recent weeks.

Everything seemed to align at Monaco for Leclerc to take his first win at home. Since then, Ferrari has fallen behind McLaren and even Mercedes. Two podiums have been achieved, but one came as a result of the crash in Austria between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. The other came in Belgium when George Russell was disqualified from P1.

What has caused the problem for Ferrari?

"From Spain onwards something changed. We brought some updates on the car that (in the simulations) had shown us good numbers," Leclerc explained to the Italian branch of Motorsport before saying that the simulator results were not correlated to what happened on the track.

"In the subsequent races, I was very aggressive with the set-up to try to find solutions that could limit bouncing. I paid a high price because of this approach. I found myself driving a set-up never tried before in qualifying, exposing myself to the risk of making mistakes."

But Leclerc doesn't believe it's all doom and gloom at Ferrari. The man from Monaco highlighted how Ferrari had a similar problem during the 2023 Formula 1 season and reset was found at the Dutch Grand Prix when Leclerc and Carlos Sainz ran various experiments. He explained how this created a "deeper understanding" about the car and wants to try something similar when the F1 season resumes after the summer break in 2024.

Despite the recent woes, Ferrari are still within touching distance of McLaren for P2 in the Constructors' Championship. They are 'only' 63 points behind leaders Red Bull Racing so anything is still possible with 10 Grand Prix weekends remaining. They must also keep an eye on the rear view mirror as Mercedes approach quickly following three wins in the last four races.