Charles Leclerc has admitted that he can’t assess his fourth place on the road in Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix as “positive” due to Ferrari’s pace deficit to Mercedes.
Leclerc inherited pole position due to Max Verstappen’s grid drop, but the Monegasque slipped behind both Mercedes drivers and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the race.
Despite retaining the lead on the opening lap, Leclerc was powerless to stop Lewis Hamilton from storming through on the Kemmel Straight with DRS on the third lap.
Leclerc remained in that spot through the pit stops, but a pace drop in the last stint saw Piastri pass him and he was unable to catch the one-stopping George Russell.
But the Ferrari racer resisted Max Verstappen and Lando Norris’ threat in the closing stages to inherit a podium as Russell was disqualified as his car was underweight.
“What happened is that we were not fast enough,” Leclerc said. “I felt like we were the fourth fastest car today.
“McLaren and Red Bull was expected, Mercedes was faster than expected. And yeah, on a normal race, dry track, it’s very difficult to keep them behind on a track like this.
“We did a good job to keep Max [Verstappen] and Lando at the end behind, but fourth was the best we could hope for today.”
However, Leclerc was not enthused with his on-track result as he conceded that Mercedes’ shock race-winning potential went against Ferrari’s pre-race estimations.
“It wasn’t [positive], because if it was a Red Bull in front, then I think it would have been a positive weekend,” he expressed.
“But now it was a Mercedes, which we thought we were on a par with them, and they had the edge on us. So, yeah, I don’t consider this result a very positive one.”
Leclerc has explained the outcome went against his predictions that Ferrari would be able to match Mercedes as McLaren and Red Bull accelerated into the distance.
“I think fourth was what I thought would be the best result possible today, with two McLarens in front and one Red Bull,” he commented.
“But again, that’s what makes me not so happy about today, is that we have two Mercedes and one McLaren in front.
“The Mercedes, we thought that we were on a par with them. So it’s worse than expected.”
Ferrari’s speed regression since Leclerc was victorious in Monaco has been attributed to upgrades in Barcelona last month triggering bouncing in high-speed corners.
Leclerc has suggested that the marque’s slump in competitiveness towards the end emanated from the bouncing becoming more prevalent as the fuel load lightened.
“There was more bouncing at the end of the race, the more we were pushing in the high speed, obviously more struggles we have with it,” he said.
“So in the last stint a little bit more, but it wasn’t crazy.”
