Charles Leclerc beat both Red Bull drivers to pole position for the second day in a row despite crashing out of the first-ever sprint shootout. Leclerc again wielded his Ferrari’s formidable pace in the technical middle sector to set the fastest …
Charles Leclerc beat both Red Bull drivers to pole position for the second day in a row despite crashing out of the first-ever sprint shootout.
Leclerc again wielded his Ferrari’s formidable pace in the technical middle sector to set the fastest time in the new condensed qualifying session, but a snap of oversteer entering Turn 5 led to him sliding nose-first into the outside barrier, ending his session early.
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Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen were presented with an open goal to snatch top spot, but neither was able to improve by enough to deprive the Monegasque of a second one-lap triumph in 24 hours.
“I tried to push a bit more to gain some lap time because I was behind my first best lap time, but I lost in Turn 5,” Leclerc said, explaining his crash.
“With the soft it was a little but tricky because you get in Q2 and we haven’t driven on these tires since yesterday.
“The conditions are very different, so it was behaving much differently.
“Very happy with the first lap, now we have to complement that in the race.”
But Leclerc again sounded cautious about his chances in the sprint later today.
“We’ll go for it, but we need to still be realistic,” he said. “Until now we have been on the back foot in the race. Red Bull seems to be a step ahead.”
Perez will start the sprint alongside him on the front row, his lap just 0.147s down on the Ferrari driver’s. Verstappen will start third after complaining again that he couldn’t get his tires into the right window, particularly for the middle sector, where his RB19 was seen sliding through Turns 5 and 6.
George Russell qualified fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz – ironically the Spaniard was the only driver behind teammate Leclerc when he crashed, costing him a chance to improve – with Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon lining up sixth and seventh.
Aston Martin teammates Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll started sprint qualifying without DRS and attempted to slipstream each other up the grid, but to no avail, ending up 1.3s off the pace. Alonso will start eighth ahead of Stroll in ninth.
McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will start the sprint 10th and 11th.
Norris was unable to participate in Q3 because he hadn’t saved a fresh set of the soft tires required under the shootout regulations, but he pipped Piastri for a top-10 berth by 0.032 regardless.
Haas drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen qualified 12th and 14th, sandwiching Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
Logan Sargeant qualified 15th after a high-speed crash at Turn 15 at the end of SQ1. The American carried too much speed into the downhill left-hander and collected the barrier with his right-rear tire, ripping it from its suspension and breaking the rear wing.
The Williams rookie vented over radio that he’d been distract by Carlos Sainz ahead of him on the road, but no investigation was opened into the Ferrari driver, who was off the racing line.
The crash was bad news too for Valtteri Bottas and Yuki Tsunoda, who had both set personal-best first sectors and were looking good for Q2 berths when the red flag flew. With 25 seconds remaining in the segment, their hopes of progression were immediately dashed, leaving Bottas 17th behind teammate Zhou Guanyu and dumping Tsunoda out in 18th.
Pierre Gasly’s horror weekend continued following his fire and crash on Friday, with a suspected exhaust leak confining him to his garage after only three laps, leaving him 19th, while Nyck de Vries qualified 20th.
Charles Leclerc isn’t convinced Ferrari has the pace to convert pole to victory in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix but says the car’s unexpected turn of speed is welcome nonetheless after a difficult start to the season. Leclerc beat title leader Max …
Charles Leclerc isn’t convinced Ferrari has the pace to convert pole to victory in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix but says the car’s unexpected turn of speed is welcome nonetheless after a difficult start to the season.
Leclerc beat title leader Max Verstappen to pole position by 0.188s after the pair had set identical times with their first runs in Q3, the difference coming in the technical middle sector of the track. It was the Monegasque’s third consecutive pole in Baku but first of the year and first since last season’s Singapore Grand Prix in October.
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Ferrari has endured its worst start to a Formula 1 campaign in years, having slipped well off Red Bull Racing’s pace since the end of last season, Leclerc admitted he didn’t expect to be in the pole conversation this weekend.
“Honestly, I did not expect it,” he said. “I think we came into the weekend thinking that it would already be a great result if we were in front of the Astons and the Mercedes, and we find ourselves on pole, so really, really happy with that.”
It’s unclear whether the good times will continue rolling for Ferrari, however, with Leclerc unconvinced that pole position can be taken as a sign that progress has also been made on the SF-23’s troublesome race pace.
“We need to see obviously tomorrow for the sprint race and the race on Sunday, as I think we are a little bit more on the back foot there,” he said.
“One thing for sure is that I think we did a step forward in Australia. On my side I obviously couldn’t show it, but on Carlos (Sainz)’s side I think the feeling was much better during the race.
“I expect the gain to be more in the race, but we were also much further behind in the race. But I think it’s mostly setup. How much better, we still need to see on Sunday. So I think on that, we still have some question marks.
“I am absolutely sure that we did some steps in the right direction. I’m not sure if it’s enough though.”
Still, Leclerc was happy to take the pole for its pure morale value to the team in the wake of news that racing director Laurent Mekies is leaving at the end of the year and speculation about further defections, including a rumor that the Monegasque himself is attempting to switch to Mercedes.
“I think the whole team needed it,” he said. “It’s part of our job — I think any team in Formula 1, you need to deal with rumors and pressure but it’s obviously sometimes a bit more difficult to perform under those circumstances, and we did really well. I think it’s good for the whole team.”
Carlos Sainz fared less well after a day of struggle. Though he qualified fourth, he was a mammoth 0.813s slower than his pole-winning teammate, in part thanks to having to use an extra set of tires in Q1 after being caught out by the dual red flags.
“It was a very tricky afternoon and morning,” he told Sky Sports F1. “Since FP1 I was a bit nowhere with my feeling, with the pace of the car. I was just struggling quite a lot. It meant when it came to Q3 … I was coming from behind, really struggling, and it wasn’t a good day for me.
“The worst thing of all is that there’s parc ferme and obviously it will be tough to change anything from here onwards. I will have to find everything within myself. I will make sure I try to find some rhythm and pace.”
Charles Leclerc bested Max Verstappen to start Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix from pole position for the third year in succession. Ferrari had looked quick all day in Baku, vying for top spot in the single hour of practice afforded to the drivers …
Charles Leclerc bested Max Verstappen to start Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix from pole position for the third year in succession.
Ferrari had looked quick all day in Baku, vying for top spot in the single hour of practice afforded to the drivers under the sprint rules and looking consistently competitive through the qualifying hour.
The scene was set for a duel between Leclerc and Verstappen, and the pair set equal times with their first laps, the Dutchman taking top spot by virtue of crossing the line first.
But Leclerc put the result beyond doubt with his second lap thanks to a blistering middle sector around a quarter of a second quicker than Verstappen’s best. The Red Bull driver fought back in the final split with a purple sector of his own, but it wasn’t enough, with Leclerc snatching his first pole of the season by 0.188s.
“For sure I’m surprised,” he said. “We came into the weekend thinking it would be a great weekend if we were in front of Aston Martin and Mercedes in qualifying, and in the end we’re on pole, so it’s a really good surprise.”
Verstappen suggested he hadn’t prepared his tires properly for his final lap on the way to second place.
“The second run we tried something different on the out-lap that maybe wasn’t ideal for the lap in the end,” he said. “Nevertheless, we’re P2. We know that we have a very good race car. All in all it’s not bad.”
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Sergio Perez completed the top three but was frustrated to be 0.292s off the pace in the tricky evening conditions.
“I’m disappointed to be sitting P3 because definitely there was more in it,” he said. “My lap wasn’t that clean. But if there’s a circuit where you can race, it’s here.”
Carlos Sainz was fourth, but the Spaniard was way off the pace at 0.813s adrift of his teammate, having struggled all day to match his Ferrari to the circuit. He was almost beaten by Lewis Hamilton, with the Mercedes driver 0.161 further back in fifth.
Fernando Alonso qualified sixth just 0.028s ahead of an on-form Lando Norris, the Briton making his first Q3 appearance of the year. Yuki Tsunoda likewise qualified in the top 10 for the first time this season and will start eighth ahead of Lance Stroll and Oscar Piastri.
George Russell was a shock exclusion in Q2 after being knocked out by teammate Hamilton by just 0.003s. He’ll line up 11th ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Williams driver Alex Albon.
Valtteri Bottas qualified 14th for Alfa Romeo ahead of Williams rookie Logan Sargeant in the first Q2 appearance of his career. It’s also the first time an American has made it past Q3 since Scott Speed qualified 15th at the 2007 British Grand Prix.
Zhou Guanyu will line up 16th ahead of Haas teammates Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen. It’s the fourth time the pair has qualified in that order, but Magnussen’s afternoon was compromised by a car problem that forced him to retire from the session before the end.
Pierre Gasly was classified 19th after smacking against the outside wall at Turn 3 after locking up on approach. The Frenchman had only just made it out in time for qualifying after his mechanics had forgone their lunches to rebuild his car after his practice fire, including installing a new power unit and gearbox, but their efforts ultimately came to nothing.
Only Nyck de Vries will start lower after the Dutchman speared into the barrier, also at Turn 3, earlier in the session. His AlphaTauri car was badly damaged after de Vries appeared to carry far too much speed into the corner, but TV radio replays suggested he may have been experiencing brake-by-wire problems earlier in the segment, which could have contributed to the smash.
Charles Leclerc has been reassured by Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur that the team’s recovery is still on track despite racing director Laurent Mekies’s impending departure and rumors linking him to Mercedes. AlphaTauri announced this week that …
Charles Leclerc has been reassured by Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur that the team’s recovery is still on track despite racing director Laurent Mekies’s impending departure and rumors linking him to Mercedes.
AlphaTauri announced this week that Mekies would replace Franz Tost as team principal at Faenza from next season. It’s the third significant departure from the team in the last six months. Former principal Mattia Binotto left at the end of last season and chassis head David Sanchez will defect to McLaren for 2024 after a period of leave. Several other personnel of lesser profiles have also reportedly left the team since the end of last year’s campaign.
The brain drain has intensified the focus on Ferrari and its poor start to the season, but Leclerc says he’s not concerned after his discussions with team boss Vasseur.
“The team is more than one person and I’m very confident for the future with Fred having what he has in mind,” Leclerc said. “I’m really confident.
“I think he has been open with what he wants to achieve and the way he wants to achieve it, and this gives me the confidence probably more than ever. So as much as obviously it’s moving, I’m confident for the future.”
Leclerc said he understood Mekies’s decision to leave for a team principal role.
“We have a really good relationship with Laurent, but we all understand, I think, in the team that this opportunity is right to take, as it’s a really good opportunity for Laurent,” he said.
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Vasseur was keen to play down the significance of Mekies’ and Sanchez’s departures in the context of the broader team structure and rebuilding process.
“To lose two people in 1,600 is not a drama,” he said. “It is absolutely not against Laurent, but you are speaking about two people in a group of more than 1000 people. For sure these individuals are important, but it is nothing compared to the group. The power of the team is always more important than the individuals.
“We are recruiting massively — we are not communicating, but we are recruiting massively — and we will do it step by step because you can’t put an organization in place in two weeks.”
Leclerc and Vasseur made their comments to the F1 media ahead of this weekend’s Baku Grand Prix, after rumors had circulated in the Italian press that Leclerc is looking for an exit route from Maranello and has opened talks with Mercedes about a potential switch. Leclerc denied he was in conversations with the Brackley, UK-based team, insisting that he wants to see Ferrari’s fortunes turned around.
“No, not yet. Not for the moment,” he said. “For now I am fully focused on the project I am today, which is Ferrari. As I said, I fully trust and I’m confident for the future, then we’ll see.
“I’m fully committed to Ferrari, and I love Ferrari. It’s always been a dream for me to be in this team, and my main priority is to win the world championship with the team. So no, it’s not something in my mind.”
Vasseur said he wanted to prioritize Leclerc as Ferrari’s lead driver for a future championship challenge.
“He’s clearly part of the project,” he said. “He is involved with the development of the team and he’s part of the development because he’s developing himself. He’s a performance contributor on track and out of the track.
“It’s true in every single team that you are always building a team around a driver. If you have a look over the last 20 years, all the success stories in F1 took time, but always a team built around someone — a driver.
“It was true with Lewis (Hamilton) at Mercedes, it was true before with Michael (Schumacher) and Ferrari, it was true with (Fernando) Alonso at Renault — it was true everywhere. You can find lots of examples, and for sure Charles is an important pillar of the performance.
“I’m really convinced that it’s a personal commitment from him.”
Charles Leclerc hopes the three weekends without a race after the Australian Grand Prix will allow Ferrari to bring forward a number of upgrades to try and close the performance gap to Red Bull. Ferrari won two of the first three races with Leclerc …
Charles Leclerc hopes the three weekends without a race after the Australian Grand Prix will allow Ferrari to bring forward a number of upgrades to try and close the performance gap to Red Bull.
Ferrari won two of the first three races with Leclerc last season, with his comfortable victory in Melbourne giving him a significant early championship lead. However, this year Leclerc retired when in podium position in Bahrain and was limited to seventh due to a power unit penalty in Saudi Arabia, and he is eyeing the gap in the calendar as an opportunity for Ferrari to develop its car.
“Clearly, our performance is not as good as last year,” Leclerc said. “But we are working massively to try and come back at the front. Last year’s are good memories … everybody was really happy. But again, we are fully motivated to be back in the front — we know where we need to work on.
“I don’t think there will be any miracles for this weekend. But after that we’ve got a three-week break and we’ll try to use it in the best way possible in order to bring upgrades as quickly as possible on the car.
“I think in the situation we are in as a team, we take this as an opportunity to work as much as possible during this break in order to be as competitive as we want the sooner in this season. It’s still a very, very long season, we’ve only done two races.”
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Leclerc says it is race pace that Ferrari needs to improve, as he feels the one-lap performance is strong and will allow him to challenge Red Bull during qualifying in Melbourne.
“I think that in qualifying, we’ve been quite good since the beginning of the season. Where we need to focus on is the race, where our car is extremely peaky. When all the conditions are right, we seem to be able to extract the performance out of our package but whenever the conditions are changing a little bit, with a heavier car where you see a little bit more the limitations of the car, then that’s where we struggle.
“So we are trying to focus on that. I do believe that we’ll be quite close in qualifying — I hope so — but I think that the picture in the race will be quite similar.”
It’s a fact of life that when one team dominates in Formula 1, top drivers on the receiving end of seemingly endless defeats get restless. The 18 drivers not sitting in a Red Bull RB19 can’t resist looking on Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez with a …
It’s a fact of life that when one team dominates in Formula 1, top drivers on the receiving end of seemingly endless defeats get restless. The 18 drivers not sitting in a Red Bull RB19 can’t resist looking on Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez with a touch of envy, which is only natural for the competitive beasts grand prix drivers must be to have any chance of thriving at the top level. Red Bull entering a second year of dominance, which followed a 2021 campaign during which it had equal-top billing with Mercedes, could have a profound impact on the driver market.
Lewis Hamilton is out of contract at the end of the season, leaving even Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff to admit he wouldn’t have any complaints if his star driver chose to leave in search of a better car – albeit with the caveat of “in a year or two”. He is expected to stick with Mercedes, although retirement or a shock move can’t be dismissed as a possibility until a deal is signed. There have also been question marks about Lando Norris, committed to McLaren until the end of 2025 but in a team that’s slipping back in the midfield. Both drivers would be of interest for any rival big squad with a potential vacancy. But there’s another established top driver who is in a difficult position when it comes to deciding the path for his future – Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc is now 25 and is arguably the fastest man in F1 over a single lap. Yet despite being a formidable performer ever since he moved to Ferrari in 2019 after a rookie campaign with Sauber, he’s won just five races. There are those who use the poor ratio of pole positions to wins (he’s topped qualifying 18 times) to criticize Leclerc, suggesting he’s simply a fast driver who can’t convert opportunity into victory. But while he has made mistakes, most infamously crashing out of the lead of the French Grand Prix last year, more often than not Ferrari has been the weak link that has given out at key moments either mechanically or strategically.
Leclerc is contracted to Ferrari until the end of next year. Usually, a top team would be determined to lock down its prize asset rather than running the risk of going into the final year with their future still up in the air. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has kicked this particular can way down the road whenever asked about it.
“It’s like for a wedding,” said Vasseur in January. “If both sides of the table are happy with the situation, we will continue. But it’s not the priority for today, we have a good relationship and we have time to discuss this. The only topic today that we have to focus on is pure performance and getting results.”
His point about performance referenced the team’s wider focus rather than what it needs to do to keep Leclerc, but it might equally be connected to his future. At that point, Vasseur will have hoped Ferrari would start the season strongly, provide Leclerc with a car that could win races and that a new deal would be straightforward. Nothing convinces a driver to stay where they are more persuasively than strong performance.
But given Leclerc’s 2023 results so far amount to a seventh place, a retirement and a 10-place grid penalty in a car that has a tire management problem, you wouldn’t blame him for starting to think about going elsewhere. The fact is, Vasseur isn’t trying to tie Leclerc down to a new deal because he knows Ferrari has to prove itself to Leclerc, who understands his own value well enough to ensure he keeps his options open just in case.
Ferrari would be thrilled to lock Leclerc in for the foreseeable future, but it needs to convince him that it can deliver a car worthy of his talents. Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
The Leclerc/Ferrari alliance has been a frustrating one. On his second outing for the team, he lost a sensational victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix to a dropped cylinder, then last year was robbed of at least one win by power unit problems. Engine reliability was the top priority for 2023, so it was no surprise that when Leclerc caught up with the media after retiring from third place in Bahrain, he couldn’t hide his disappointment. The optimism of the new season peeled away immediately and the Leclerc of the end of last year was back in front of us: downbeat, frustrated, disappointed – and with good reason.
Leclerc is a class act: stunningly fast, blessed with arguably the greatest sensitivity to grip in particular in traction zones and with a capacity to sit on that ragged edge. For him, lightning-fast corrections minimize mistakes and conserve momentum where for others they would cause a big moment or worse. Every now and again he falls off that tightrope, but it’s rare. That’s why he’s one of the most admired drivers in the paddock.
Mercedes is known to covet his services, and it’s a team that could potentially have a use for him in the not-too-distant future. It regards George Russell as a long-term driver, one capable of winning world championships, but isn’t afraid to put two topliners together. Should Hamilton walk away, Leclerc would be high on its list. Make no mistake, Leclerc knows there’s a potential Mercedes berth for him in the future.
The trouble is, Mercedes is no better off than Ferrari right now. What it does have is more recent success, a run of 15 titles out of 16 from 2014-2021 compared to a Ferrari team that last won a crown – the constructors’ championship – way back in 2008. But while Mercedes holds a certain appeal, it’s a sideways move on current form.
The move that everyone simultaneously wants and doesn’t want is Red Bull. It has the car, but it is a Max Verstappen stronghold. He’s earned supremacy at that team through relentless high performance and is reaping the reward of the years spent toiling in a car that could only occasionally grab victories. That in itself is a lesson for Leclerc and any other driver looking to jump ship.
The trouble for any driver eyeing a Red Bull seat is that Verstappen is under contract until the end of 2028, which is forever in F1 terms. The team is set up around him, optimized to make the most of his talents and that generally subscribes to the number one/number two model. Even if Red Bull did want to replace Sergio Perez, it’s questionable whether it would really want a driver of Leclerc’s class. As for Leclerc, while he would back himself to beat Verstappen (any driver on the grid would, many through delusional optimism, but at least in Leclerc’s case he is one of the few with the ability to give Verstappen something to think about) the circumstances wouldn’t appeal.
For Leclerc, Ferrari is the best option. The question is whether the revamped team can convince him it is capable of taking the step from occasional winner to champion. Leclerc had reservations about the old Mattia Binotto regime and is positive about Fred Vasseur’s leadership, but with rumors about top-level management intervention and the thorny issue of politics possibly undercutting the team’s potential never far from anyone’s thoughts, he likely still needs to be convinced.
For Leclerc, the frustration of years spent staring at the back of a red Bull could be solved by driving one – but how would he fit into a team built around Verstappen? Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images
As has been the case for much of F1 history, certainly since the long-distant days when sportscar programs were prioritized at times, Ferrari has everything it needs to succeed. It has the cash, it has the resources and the facilities to be at the top in F1. Recent investment has consolidated that position, with measures such as the new state-of-the-art driver-in-loop simulator that came online in late 2021 ensuring it’s still at the cutting edge. But the question with Ferrari is always whether it can make the most of it.
In that regard, Leclerc is at the heart of one of the few teams with the potential to dominate. In current conditions, it’s one of only three alongside Mercedes and Red Bull that can do so, and he’s the focal point of the team. While Carlos Sainz is not far off, ultimately Ferrari still regards him as the support act to Leclerc’s spearhead. That’s not a bad place to be.
Should Leclerc lose faith in Ferrari, there will be no lack of rivals interested in his services. And with teams like Aston Martin well on their way to establishing themselves as ready to fight for a championship, there will be even more realistic options presenting themselves in the near future. That’s why Leclerc will likely hang on until at least early next year before recommitting himself to Ferrari.
In the meantime, he must work on developing himself. He’s clearly less comfortable, or capable, with seeing the big picture in races and calling the strategic shots as Sainz is. And given the Spaniard is an intelligent and industrious character, there will also be less obvious shortfalls for Leclerc to work on off-track. A driver can’t single-handedly turn a team into a title winner, but he can be part of the process and should at least be able to ensure he’s ready to deliver relentless performance when the machinery to win consistently is under him. He does still have a mistake in him, two major in-race errors last year at Paul Ricard and when he went off chasing Perez at Imola, so ensuring he’s rock solid and ready to thrive when he does have a title-winning car under him is essential.
And looking back to the example of Verstappen, he spent five seasons with Red Bull staring at the back of all-conquering Mercedes cars. Leclerc is now in his fifth season with Ferrari, so the hope will be that the breakthrough is close. It won’t be this year, but it could be in 2024. Patience can be a virtue, particularly in contemporary F1 where lengthy phases of domination are a fact of life.
But 2024 needs to be strong both for Leclerc and Ferrari. If next year starts like this year then Leclerc will have to seriously consider hitching his career wagon to a non-prancing horse. But that move could be as risky, if not more so, than staying where he is.
The easy solution, for both sides, is for Ferrari to fulfill its potential. It’s only if that doesn’t happen that Leclerc could throw a spanner in the works of the driver market and face a career make-or-break decision of ‘should I stay or should I go’.
Charles Leclerc wants to “stop the talk” around Ferrari and says a number of recent rumors have been false after the team needed to take a power unit penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. New team principal Frederic Vasseur named improving …
Charles Leclerc wants to “stop the talk” around Ferrari and says a number of recent rumors have been false after the team needed to take a power unit penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
New team principal Frederic Vasseur named improving reliability as one of his pre-season priorities due to Ferrari’s struggles last year, but Leclerc needed to take a new energy store (ES) and control electronics (CE) after qualifying in Bahrain, then retired from the race. The DNF led to another CE being needed — exceeding the limit of two per year — and a grid penalty, and Italian media reports claim there is a crisis behind the scenes.
“It’s the beginning of the season… Of course, it’s not the ideal start that I wish I had at the beginning, starting in Bahrain, but what can I do about it?” Leclerc said. “Now we need to focus on what’s ahead, what we can do to be a better team, to be better. And yeah, this weekend, we obviously started on the back foot, but our target is to try and do something special. I like this challenge of starting a little bit more on the back foot and trying to do something special, and come back at the front as quickly as possible.
“It’s only the first race of the season and we’ve still got many races to go. We still need to be fighting like crazy to be back at the top and keep pushing. I still believe in it. Of course, we all still need to believe in it, because it’s only the first race.
“So it hasn’t gone as planned — and when it’s Ferrari that doesn’t go as well as it should, then there are lots of voices and all of these things around the team, but we need to be good at spending our energy right, inside the team, pushing in the same direction, making a difference and come back stronger. I feel that this has been the case in the last few weeks, so I’m really looking forward to being back on-track, stop the talk, and get back to driving.”
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There were reports in Italy that senior management are uncertain about Ferrari’s future direction, including a claim that Leclerc had demanded assurances from Ferrari chairman John Elkann, but the Monegasque says they do no reflect the reality within the team.
“Honestly… I obviously saw these rumors, and then I went to Maranello, so I was at first, I was like, ‘I’m not sure how the team is going to react to it.’ But then we’ve had a meeting with the whole team, with all the Ferrari employees, and I was really surprised. Everybody is fully on it and fully positive still, which is great. We need to all push in the same direction, as I said, this is the most important to me.
“This (Elkann rumor) is absolutely untrue. Again, there have been loads of rumors around the team, which, for once, 90% of them were completely unfounded. So yeah, I don’t know where it is coming from, and to be honest, I don’t want to spend even any energy on trying to find where it’s coming from. We just need to be on it and focused our ourselves.”
Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz similarly came to the team’s defense, claiming the atmosphere internally is positive as Ferrari tries to make further progress.
“It is a lot better than what the news make it sound like,” Sainz said. “If you look back at this last weekend and how many rumors there have been around, it seems like the place is not in a great moment, but I can tell you it is so clear to us what we need to improve, how we need to do it, what are the short-, medium- and long-term targets, that I’m actually very surprised at how some people back at home have been trying to destabilize the team.
“Some call it a crisis but we’ve only done one race — it’s impossible to judge a team’s performance after just one race. And we are the first ones not happy with how this first race went, we are the most worried about it and we are the most affected by it and we’re going to try as much as possible to improve.
“I’m quite calm about it. I see people at the factory are committed, focused and with a very clear target in mind and I include myself in it.”
Ferrari has confirmed that Charles Leclerc will take a grid penalty of at least 10 places for this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after his retirement from the Bahrain GP forced the team to install a fresh electronics power unit component. …
Ferrari has confirmed that Charles Leclerc will take a grid penalty of at least 10 places for this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after his retirement from the Bahrain GP forced the team to install a fresh electronics power unit component. Ferrari had replaced the energy store and control electronics on Leclerc’s car before the season-opening race, and teams are only permitted to use two control electronics components per season without penalty.
“We found the cause of the issue that stopped Charles in Sakhir and will use the third CU on his car, which means that we will take a grid penalty,” related team principal Fred Vasseur, who remained optimistic that the setback will not overly compromise the Monegesque driver’s race.
“The Saudi Arabian track is very different to Bahrain in terms of layout and track surface, and top speed is particularly important,” he noted. “I’m confident that we can have a better weekend here.”
However, there remains the possibility that Leclerc’s grid drop could increase if the team finds it necessary to change out the energy store component on his car.
La FIA investigará el incidente que podría terminar en una penalización para Leclerc cuando se encuentra peleando codo a codo con Checo
La jornada de Fórmula 1 en la Ciudad de México no terminó del todo bien para Charles Leclerc y Ferrari pues el piloto estrelló su vehículo contra el muro de contención.
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Un fuerte accidente entre las curvas 8 y 9 donde incluso Max Verstappen hizo un trompo sin que lograra impactarse pero el de Ferrari no corrió con la misma suerte y en su intento por tomar la curva perdió el control y se impactó en la parte trasera.
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El vehículo quedó severamente dañado de la parte trasera y tuvo que ingresar una grúa al Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez que detuvo la práctica por 20 minutos.
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El piloto salió por su propio pie del vehículo pero por radio avisó a su equipo que el coche no se veía bien disculpándose por el trabajo extra que le dará a su staff de mecánicos.
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La FIA investigará el incidente que podría terminar en una penalización para Leclerc justo cuando se encuentra peleando codo a codo el segundo puesto del campeonato de pilotos con Checo Pérez.
El neerlandés además está cerca de igualar el récord de victorias en una temporada pues hasta el momento lleva 11 y está a dos del récord
El piloto neerlandés de Red Bull, Max Verstappen consiguió la pole position para el Gran Premio de Japón de este domingo y está a un paso de conseguir el campeonato de pilotos de la temporada 2022 de la Fórmula 1.
Para Verstappen es la quinta pole de la temporada en donde se ha subido 11 veces al podio, pero lo más importante es que está muy cerca de conseguir su segundo título consecutivo.
El de Red Bull registró el mejor tiempo en la calificación de este sábado y superó a Charles Leclerc de Ferrari por apenas 10 milésimas de segundo dejando al otro Ferrari de Carlos Sainz en la tercera posición y detrás de ellos el otro Red Bull de Checo Pérez.
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De ganar el GP de Japón y conseguir el bono extra de la vuelta más rápida, Max Verstappen habría asegurado el título mundial, de no conseguir el triunfo tendría que esperar una combinación que le permitiera coronarse desde esta fecha.
El neerlandés además está cerca de igualar el récord de victorias en una temporada pues hasta el momento lleva 11 y está a dos de las 13 que registraron Michael Schumacher y Sebastian Vettel como los máximos ganadores de Grandes Premios en na misma temporada.
