Charles Leclerc appeared baffled by Ferrari’s strategy in the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, saying he “left nothing on the table” in an impressive performance.
The Monegasque started ninth for the race, and worked his way up to sixth, in what was an aggressive display that saw him narrowly miss out on fourth.
Leclerc was ultimately hindered by an undercut from both Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri, something that Ferrari did not respond to.
Therefore, Leclerc was forced to battle both men on track, something that he ultimately failed to do given the SF-25’s poor straight-line speed due to a high-downforce set-up.
It left Leclerc unable to make further good on what was a strong showing in an underperforming car, which could have been a podium as both McLarens were excluded.
After the race, Leclerc was asked whether he was able to view the result positively after his difficulties in qualifying, and voiced his lack of understanding of the strategy.
“Well, I mean, not really. It’s P6, so it’s still very frustrating to only finish P6 when you start P9,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“On the other hand, if I look at my race, it’s been a bit of a crazy race.
“I had to take massive risks to overtake because we were very, very slow in the straights.
“On that side, it was an entertaining race, but then I don’t really understand what happened around the pitstop.
“But it seems that we’ve lost quite a few places, so we’ll look back at that, whether we could have done something better there.”
Leclerc ‘was pushing 200 per cent’ with pace disadvantage
Leclerc certainly had no qualms about his own personal performance, saying there “wasn’t anything I left on the table”.
“It was a bit of a tough race to manage, but I don’t think I could have done anything better,” he said.
“It was just a bit of a shame to get stuck behind Oscar that had the DRS exactly at the point where I was catching up Oscar. And that made it very difficult for us.”
Leclerc added: “I was pushing 200 per cent the whole race. I don’t think I left anything on the table.
“I just think they had a bit more pace towards the end, but I also had pushed a lot behind them to try and get as close as possible.
“I had to, because otherwise I would lose DRS, and without the DRS I was dead slow.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen sympathises with ‘easy’ Lando Norris start blunder in F1 Las Vegas GP
Discussion about this post