Charles Leclerc has explained how race control’s decision to minimise running in the wet in Formula 1‘s Belgian Grand Prix proved decisive in him clinching a podium.
Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen criticised the call to suspend the start procedure, prompting an 80-minute delay until the race began.
The two multiple-time champions had pre-empted the action at Spa-Francorchamps being held in adverse conditions, and had adapted their set-ups with that in mind.
But with the sun beating down as the cars headed back out, Hamilton initiated the switch to slicks on Lap 11 – a move which elevated him up seven places to seventh.
Hamilton’s advances stalled, though, as the pre-race choice to have a more loaded rear wing fitted to his Ferrari burdened him with a straight-line speed disadvantage.
Verstappen rued an identical problem as, having been all over Leclerc when the track was damp, he was unable to mount a challenge to the Ferrari driver’s third place.
Leclerc, who had adopted a more conventional set-up direction on his Ferrari, has acknowledged that the hesitation to begin the race on time enhanced his prospects.
“It’s nice. I don’t think we expected it, especially after the Sprint Qualifying when I saw the gap with the top three,” Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week.
“I was like, okay, it’s going to be probably the best we can do this weekend. Yesterday, we did a really good lap [to take third].
“We did take a little bit of a gamble with the lower downforce compared to people around us, and then the rain today was tricky.
“The first part of the race was very difficult and Max definitely was faster than me. I had to keep him behind there, which we did.
“Once we went on the slicks, things came a bit more towards me. I just knew I had to do the job and P3 could be ours, which at the end it is, and I’m very happy.”
Leclerc has admitted he would have been greeted with an almost impossible task to keep third over Verstappen behind had the entire race been run in wet conditions.
“I think it would have been very unlikely that we would stand on the podium if it was a full wet race, especially with the amount of downforce we had,” he assessed.
“It was very difficult to actually make those tyres work. Luckily for us, it dried up pretty quickly, and then the car became nice again to drive. Before that, it was difficult.
“I also had that in mind yesterday and probably didn’t go as extreme as I normally used to in terms of set-up for the dry, which also probably helped for the first part of the race today.”
Leclerc’s intense time trial duel with Verstappen
Leclerc managed to open up over a second’s gap to Verstappen behind to ensure that the Red Bull couldn’t activate the DRS, which remained the case right to the end.
“The gap was always exactly the same. Sometimes I was doing a really good lap, and then I would look at the gap and he would do exactly the same lap,” he recalled.
“I was like, f**k, okay, so I just need to keep that pace now. Until the very end, he was very close to me.”
Leclerc content with Ferrari progress
Leclerc’s fourth podium in six rounds coincided with Ferrari introducing a new rear suspension, intended to alleviate its need to run the SF-25 in a compromised state.
But having crossed the line 20 seconds behind winner Oscar Piastri, the Monegasque has stated that the Italian marque is aware that it’s not enough to rival McLaren.
“I’m pleased with the steps forward we are doing,” he expressed.
“I think we should all be proud about that because I know that behind that, there’s a lot of work behind the scenes from the people back at home for us to have this upgrade here.
“It definitely helped us to get the podium when you see how close it was with Max today.
“However, we are all aware that this is not enough, and we need to keep pushing in order to be closer to the McLaren.
“This is very clear for the whole team. It doesn’t change that we shall be satisfied with what we’ve done this weekend.”
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