Charles Leclerc says Ferrari is drawing on Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes-honed experience as the team attempts to overcome its long-standing struggles in wet conditions – a weakness that could once again be exposed in Formula 1‘s Belgian Grand Prix.
Remarkably, the Scuderia has not won a race in the wet since Fernando Alonso triumphed at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix – a drought stretching back 13 years.
That record stands despite having recognised wet-weather talents such as Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz in the team during that time.
But now, with Hamilton – who famously mastered the rain at Silverstone in 2008, nearly lapping the entire field except two rivals – Ferrari hope to harness his wet-weather skills.
The seven-time F1 champion’s expertise could prove invaluable as Ferrari looks to overcome its struggles, an issue Leclerc openly acknowledges it needs to improve on.
“Wet weather, we were speaking about it in the last race weekend, I don’t think it’s a strength for our car at the moment,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“We are really struggling. But having said that, every weekend is different. We’ll learn from the past and see what’s possible tomorrow.”
On Thursday, Leclerc said Hamilton’s insight has already been valuable as the team works behind the scenes to better understand its limitations.
The Briton finished fourth for Ferrari at Silverstone – yet still complained that the SF-25 was the “most difficult car I’ve driven here in these conditions”.
“With the team we’re working really, really hard in order to try and turn the situation around in wet weather because our car is unbelievably difficult to drive in those conditions,” Leclerc explained.
“And it’s also interesting now to have Lewis’s experience coming from another team.
“So there’s a lot of work in the background on that to try and turn the situation around because it’s a very difficult situation to be in and to be driving with the car that we have at the moment.”
Leclerc surprised by qualifying pace with P3 result
Leclerc pipped Max Verstappen to secure a surprise third on the grid at Spa, but he remains cautious about his chances of challenging the McLaren duo ahead.
“I will only be able to tell after the first few laps to see where we are,” he said. “But I’ll try to look forward before looking in mirrors.”
The Monegasque, however, admitted he hadn’t expected to be that far up the order and was encouraged by the car’s performance relative to expectations.
“I think we expected to be [fourth] but with a significant gap in front,” the 27-year-old added.
“At the end, the gap is still significant, but a little bit less than what we initially expected, so that’s positive.
“We brought upgrades this weekend, which have been working since the beginning, but we had to do some fine-tuning from yesterday to today.
“It’s going in the right direction, so I’m very happy. I think it was also a really good lap.
“I don’t think I left much on the table with the potential we had today, so for that, I’m happy as well. However, it’s only [third], so now we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
READ MORE – Charles Leclerc hopeful Ferrari’s F1 Belgian GP upgrades have revived qualifying magic
