Tag: Charles Leclerc

Hamilton and Leclerc at risk of DQ over plank wear

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are both at risk of being disqualified from the United States Grand Prix due to excessive wear of their cars’ floor planks. The Mercedes driver had finished a close second to Max Verstappen while Leclerc committed …

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are both at risk of being disqualified from the United States Grand Prix due to excessive wear of their cars’ floor planks.

The Mercedes driver had finished a close second to Max Verstappen while Leclerc committed to a one-stop strategy and faded from pole position to finish sixth, but the pair could lose those results after failing post-race technical checks.

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FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer carried out a physical floor and a plank wear inspection, and noted that the skids in the middle of the plank — that is located in the center of the floor under the car — was not in compliance with the technical regulations on both cars.

The matter has been referred to the stewards, with disqualification the usual penalty for a breach of technical regulations.

Should both cars be disqualified, multiple drivers would be promoted including Logan Sargeant from 12th to 10th for his first point in Formula 1.

Ferrari gave Leclerc a ‘heart attack’ with radio message about pole

Charles Leclerc says he “had a heart attack” as a result of a Ferrari team radio message about track limits at the end of qualifying for the United States Grand Prix. The opening runs in Q3 saw Leclerc on provisional pole position, improving on his …

Charles Leclerc says he “had a heart attack” as a result of a Ferrari team radio message about track limits at the end of qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.

The opening runs in Q3 saw Leclerc on provisional pole position, improving on his final attempt before Max Verstappen just beat him by 0.005s. Verstappen’s time was then deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 19, but Leclerc admits he was left believing he had lost his best time for a moment with the way the news was relayed to him.

“I just had a heart attack because my engineer told me, ‘Track limits,’ and then, ‘For Verstappen,’” Leclerc said. “And when I heard ‘track limits,’ I punched the steering wheels and my helmet, and then I heard ‘for Verstappen’ and then I was, ‘OK, that’s better news for us!’

“That’s why in the moment, I just said to Xavi (Marcos Padros, race engineer) please tell me the name before the track limits, just so I don’t get too excited.”

The news meant Leclerc was on pole from Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton at the end of a close session, and he attributes his third pole in a Sprint weekend this season to how well Ferrari hits the ground running.

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“The car was really good and I think this is our biggest strength when we get to a weekend like this,” the Monegasque said. “It’s a Sprint weekend — FP1, every lap counts, and it’s very important to be starting with a strong base setup of the car. That’s exactly what we did, so from the first lap I built up the confidence with the car and I felt good straight away.

“In qualifying I tried to put everything together. The first lap in Q3 felt quite a bit better than the second lap but I think there was a bit of track improvement, and the second lap was good enough for pole — even though on track we got beaten by Max, but his lap time was deleted later on — but I’m very happy to be on pole. It’s a surprise for us; We definitely did not expect to be fighting for pole position.”

Leclerc believes the track characteristics helped Ferrari negate a weakness of its car on Friday, but also points to overall progress in recent races as a sign of improving consistency.

“It’s very bumpy here and the car definitely felt good on bumps today, which gives you quite a bit of confidence to push in all the high speed,” he said. “That’s normally our weakness, but maybe because our car was good on those bumps we could at least match the others. And then our car was strong in the medium and low speed. Again, it’s very difficult to understand where you are going to be going into a weekend, but for some reason this weekend we are strongest…up until now, which is good.

“It’s a good sign. I think we have learned a massive amount since the start of the second part of the season. We haven’t brought massive upgrades since then, but we have learned how to maximize our car and that helped us to be a bit more regularly at our 100 percent, and today is once again the proof, so it’s a good sign for the future.”

United States Grand Prix qualifying results: Charles Leclerc takes pole

It was a strong day for the Ferraris as Charles Leclerc ended up on pole position Friday.

Formula 1 is racing in Austin, Texas, this weekend, so it’s no surprise that a state known for its ranches would see a pole position from the Prancing Horse.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc landed on pole position during Friday’s qualifying, beating out Mclaren’s Lando Norris by just over a hundredth of a second. Leclerc’s official pole position came after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had a faster lap time deleted after he went off the track at turn 19.

The pole position is Leclerc’s 21st in his career, and he’ll be set on the front row in an attempt to win his sixth race. Perhaps the biggest surprise outside of the front three not featuring a Red Bull car is the struggles of Aston Martin in qualifying — drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso both only qualified 19th and 17th, respectively.

Here is how qualifying for Sunday’s race shaped out:

  1. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] (1:34.723)
  2. Lando Norris [McLaren] (1:34.853)
  3. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] (1:34.862)
  4. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] (1:34.945)
  5. George Russell [Mercedes] (1:35.079)
  6. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] (1:35.081)
  7. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] (1:35.089)
  8. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] (1:35.154)
  9. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] (1:35.173)
  10. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] (1:35.467)
  11. Yuki Tsunoda [AlphaTauri] (1:35.697)
  12. Zhou Guanyu [Alfa Romeo] (1:35.698)
  13. Valtteri Bottas [Alfa Romeo] (1:35.858)
  14. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] (1:35.880)
  15. Daniel Ricciardo [AlphaTauri] (1:35.974)
  16. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] (1:36.235)
  17. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] (1:36.268)
  18. Alexander Albon [Williams] (1:36.315)
  19. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] (1:36.589)
  20. Logan Sargeant [Williams] (1:36.827)

Leclerc pips Norris to pole in super-tight USGP qualifying at COTA

Charles Leclerc beat Lando Norris to pole position for Sunday’s United States Grand Prix after Max Verstappen had his fastest time deleted for exceeding track limits. Red Bull Racing’s pace advantage was reduced by the mixed demands of Circuit of …

Charles Leclerc beat Lando Norris to pole position for Sunday’s United States Grand Prix after Max Verstappen had his fastest time deleted for exceeding track limits.

Red Bull Racing’s pace advantage was reduced by the mixed demands of Circuit of The Americas and its rapidly evolving grip levels, turning the battle for pole into a genuine four-way contest between Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc took provisional pole at the end of the first laps, in part thanks to Verstappen arriving at the last corner immediately behind teammate Sergio Perez, understeering through the left-hander in the Mexican’s dirty air.

The Dutchman was furious over team radio, with his shot at pole relying on his final lap.

Nearing the end, Leclerc was again quickest, improving his time as the first of the contenders over the line.

Verstappen started the lap badly, with a lockup at Turn 1 that sent him wide, but a phenomenal final sector more than made up for the lost time, sending him 0.005s ahead of the leading Ferrari.

That purple final split included a clear wide exit at Turn 19, and he had his timed deleted shortly after crossing the line, dumping the 2023 world champion to a disappointed sixth and handing pole back to Leclerc — the Monegasque’s second Sunday P1 start of the year.

“I think as a team we did a great job,” Leclerc said. “We know [on sprint weekends] it’s more important than ever to have a clean FP1. We did.

“I was feeling good on the lap. I was happy throughout qualifying.

“The last lap in Q3, there were [some] mistakes here and there, but I think it wasn’t easy for anybody.

“I’m really happy to be starting from pole on Sunday.”

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Norris was an unexpected second and just 0.13s off pole, the McLaren driver having forecast a more difficult weekend for his car ahead of the session.

“I’m happy; It’s been a good day,” he said. “It was probably not expected, so a good bonus for the whole team.

“I think we had it today. There was enough in it to get pole. A bit of a shame that one opportunity maybe missed again, but I’m happy nonetheless.”

Lewis Hamilton was just 0.009s behind Norris for Mercedes in his upgraded W14, making it three different manufacturers inside the top three.

“I have to say a big thank you to everyone back at the factory,” he said. “They’ve been pushing so hard to improve our car.

“We have taken a bit of a step closer to these guys this weekend.

“Unfortunately they’re just a little bit ahead but we’ll give it another shot tomorrow [in the sprint].”

Carlos Sainz and George Russell were 0.2s and 0.3s off pole in fourth and fifth but ahead of the error-prone Verstappen in sixth.

Alpine teammates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were split by 0.065s in seventh and eighth ahead of Sergio Perez, who was 0.45s off pole, and Oscar Piastri, for whom a mistake in the middle sector confined him to 10th.

Yuki Tsunoda led the way for AlphaTauri in his upgraded AT04, missing out on the pole shootout by just 0.018s.

Alfa Romeo teammates Zhou Guanyu were 12th and 13th.

Haas teammates Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg validated the massive overhaul of the Haas car this weekend with 14th and 16th respectively, though the German lost a better lap after exceeding track limits.

Daniel Ricciardo was sandwiched between them in 15th, the Australian 0.277s behind teammate Tsunoda on his first race back from injury.

Fernando Alonso was the shock Q1 elimination. Despite never having qualified lower than 10th for a grand prix this season, the Spaniard said he extracted the maximum from his upgraded Aston Martin on his way to 17th on the grid and 1.177s off the pace of the session.

Alex Albon qualified 18th ahead of Lance Stroll in the second Aston, the Canadian severely hamstrung by reliability issues during first practice that restricted him to five slow laps.

American rookie Logan Sargeant will prop up the grid from 20th.

Intrateam competition pushing Ferrari forward – Vasseur

A positive competition between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz is helping Ferrari improve its level of performance, according to team principal Fred Vasseur. Sainz held off teammate Leclerc for a podium in Monza having qualified on pole position, …

A positive competition between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz is helping Ferrari improve its level of performance, according to team principal Fred Vasseur.

Sainz held off teammate Leclerc for a podium in Monza having qualified on pole position, and duly followed that up with victory from pole in Singapore. Leclerc responded with a strong fourth place in Japan and while Vasseur says there hasn’t been one clear moment that Ferrari has made a step forward in recent races, instead the drivers have helped push the team in the right direction.

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“We have to avoid coming to conclusions too quickly,” Vasseur said. “Before the break in Spa we were also in good shape, Charles started from pole position – qualified on the first row – and did a good race. As it’s a matter of hundreds of seconds, sometimes you do a small step and you have the feeling that everything has changed but it’s not exactly the reality.

“But it’s a sport and in the end we can accept that one is doing a better job than the other from weekend to weekend. I think that we have a positive competition and this is also helping us to improve.”

One area Ferrari appears stronger is with tire usage after not suffering from degradation issues during the Japanese Grand Prix, something Vasseur says has been improved since the opening races.

“It’s a step forward compared to the beginning of the season but on the other hand we were probably a bit too conservative (at Suzuka). I think it was true of everybody on the grid but we were more scared than the reality. But it was okay, it was under control in the race and I think it’s been a good step forward in this regard.

“If you have a look at the first couple of races of the season, the degradation or the tire management was not always our biggest skill. Coming to Suzuka with the track temps we were a bit anxious but I think at the end of the day we did a good job on this side.

“The race was under control, the strategy was well managed and we did well. It’s a clear step forward compared to the first part of the season.”

Leclerc confused by fourth-place finish, but still seeing the positives

Charles Leclerc thought he was on for a podium throughout the Japanese Grand Prix after being confused by a slowing Red Bull that he mistook for Max Verstappen. Verstappen led from pole position and comfortably beat the two McLaren drivers at …

Charles Leclerc thought he was on for a podium throughout the Japanese Grand Prix after being confused by a slowing Red Bull that he mistook for Max Verstappen.

Verstappen led from pole position and comfortably beat the two McLaren drivers at Suzuka, with Leclerc finishing seven seconds adrift of Oscar Piastri in fourth place. However, after overtaking a slow Red Bull during a Virtual Safety Car period — the ailing Sergio Perez who was returning to the pits — Leclerc thought he’d passed Verstappen and was in the top three.

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“I didn’t even follow what Max did because I saw him stopping at the safety car or after the safety car — I don’t know what happened there and I thought he wasn’t in the race anymore,” Leclerc said. “So I thought I was doing a podium until the last lap where I actually looked at the board and I was P4!

“They were really strong — Max of course, we expected him to be strong. We expected Checo also, but I don’t know what happened for him and the two McLarens, too.”

Still believing he had passed Verstappen at one stage, a confused Leclerc had to be told during media interviews that it was Perez who had been going slowly.

“No, (Verstappen) slowed down at one point no? Exit of Turn 14. I think it was the VSC yeah, he basically stopped on the left and we all overtook him…

“Ohhh right, OK,” he added when informed it was Perez. “That’s what it was — I thought Max was out of the race at that moment. I was just confusing for me.”

While the McLaren drivers had an advantage over Ferrari all weekend in Japan, Leclerc says there are still positives to take out of the weekend as it highlights deficits that need addressing.

“McLaren was super strong and they also had a very low tire management. But I think another weekend like this is good in a way, because it confirms exactly what we understood in the last few races,” he said,

“Sector 1 is definitely one of our main weaknesses, if you look compared to McLaren that’s where most of the time is lost. And on that we will be working on that for the for the rest of the season for next year.”

Leclerc leads, lizards star in first Singapore GP practice

Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two ahead of title leader Max Verstappen in first practice at the Singapore Grand Prix. Leclerc assumed top spot at the end of the soft-tire runs in the second half of the afternoon session with fastest times in all …

Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two ahead of title leader Max Verstappen in first practice at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Leclerc assumed top spot at the end of the soft-tire runs in the second half of the afternoon session with fastest times in all three sectors. Sainz was late to set his fastest time on a used set of softs, the Spaniard getting to within 0.078s of his teammate.

Verstappen had something of a rough session, complaining of rough downshifts and excess oversteer. The Dutchman shipped most of his 0.126s deficit to Leclerc in the first sector but became progressively quicker as his lap continued and his tires came up to temperature.

Lando Norris was fourth fastest in his heavily upgraded and blacked-out McLaren, lapping within 0.172s of the leader, while Lewis Hamilton ended the session fifth for Mercedes just 0.018s further back.

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The otherwise straightforward session was interrupted four times by the sighting of a monitor lizard on the track between Turns 8 and 9.

The lizard appeared to have crept beneath the barriers and onto the circuit several times — though some drivers speculated that it might have been several different lizards — forcing three four flags through that part of the track in the final half-hour of the session.

“Maybe Godzilla had a kid,” Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen’s engineer, quipped to his driver, recalling another on-track sighting in 2016 of a much larger monitor.

A fourth appearance ended badly for the monitor, however, which appeared to be struck by a driver as it moved towards the outside of the track shortly before the end of the session.

George Russell was sixth in the order and 0.345s off the pace, pipping Sergio Perez to the place by 0.03s.

Fernando Alonso led for Aston Martin in eighth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, whose AlphaTauri was sporting its biggest upgrade of the season in hopes of building on the team’s paltry three points this weekend.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon completed the top 10, with Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon half a second further back, the Thai driver running Williams’s Gulf-inspired blue and orange paint scheme.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas didn’t use the soft tires on his way to 14th and 1.4s off the leading pace. He finished ahead of Kevin Magnussen, Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg,

Zhou Guanyu also eschewed the softs to finish 18th ahead of Oscar Piastri, whose McLaren wasn’t equipped with all the upgrades enjoyed by teammate Norris, and Logan Sargeant at the back of the back.

No team orders was the right call at Monza, says Ferrari’s Vasseur

Fred Vasseur said he was proud of Ferrari’s approach in allowing Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to fight throughout the Italian Grand Prix, and of how the drivers responded. Sainz had started from pole position with Leclerc third, and the pair …

Fred Vasseur said he was proud of Ferrari’s approach in allowing Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to fight throughout the Italian Grand Prix, and of how the drivers responded.

Sainz had started from pole position with Leclerc third, and the pair raced closely with Max Verstappen before he took the lead on lap 15. After another battle with Sergio Perez, the pair were then left to contest the final podium position at Ferrari’s home race without the intervention of team orders.

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“If I froze the positions, you would have exactly the same question – why did you freeze the situation?” Vasseur said. “For sure, it’s much easier to comment when you have a happy ending, but it was also the best way to thank everybody for the support of the Tifosi.

“On this I want to have the last call, and I told them no risks. You can race, but no risks. Of course, that is all relative, but I was much more comfortable with this situation than to freeze something.”

Sainz was the driver coming under pressure regularly but says Ferrari had already discussed how the outright pace of each car could be clouded by the impact of DRS and the slipstream at Monza, while still understanding the importance of a top three finish to each driver in front of so many Ferrari fans.

“We knew the car in DRS is always going to feel like it’s the quicker car, but we know that around this track, once you get into DRS you feel quicker and we knew that,” Sainz said. “At the same time, we know that we were both going to be fighting for a podium at Monza, so there was always going to be a bit of a fight and a bit of a battle.

“In the end we kept it clean, there were a couple of nice moves here and there, tight battles, but I enjoyed, honestly, battling Max, battling Checo, battling Charles, I think it was a good day for F1, a good show. I just did everything I could to stay in front and it worked.”

Ferrari drivers enjoyed podium fight despite its anxious moments for the team

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both backed the decision from Ferrari to allow them to fight each other for the podium until the end of the Italian Grand Prix, even if it made for nervous viewing for the team and its fans. Ferrari told the pair …

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both backed the decision from Ferrari to allow them to fight each other for the podium until the end of the Italian Grand Prix, even if it made for nervous viewing for the team and its fans.

Ferrari told the pair they were free to race for the final spot on the podium at Monza, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez having made their way past polesitter Sainz by that stage. In the closing laps, the two Ferraris went wheel-to-wheel on multiple occasions, each locking up and coming close to contact but Sainz held on and says he didn’t mind the call despite the threat to his position.

“I would have understood it both ways,” Sainz said. “If they had used team orders I would have understood. If I was Charles trying to get a podium I wouldn’t have liked the team orders, so it completely depends on the position you are in.

“I am not going to lie — it very much depends on a very subjective position or feeling. I think it was on the limit, but it was a nice, fair teammate battle, which at the end of the day is also what you guys (media) want to see. I had fun doing it.

“I never felt too much of a risk. With a teammate you are always a bit more tense — (you leave) a bit more space, because it’s the last thing you want in Monza, in front of the Tifosi, the two Ferraris to touch. But I think we had a tough battle; we managed to keep it clean and it was good fun.

“I had fun with Charles, but I also had fun with Max and Checo. I would prefer to be the one attacking than the one defending, but today it was my turn to defend and I think I did that well.”

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Although he finished fourth and missed out on a home podium, Leclerc was similarly supportive of having been allowed to challenge right up to the final lap.

“To be honest, I feel good,” Leclerc said. “OK, I missed the podium, but Carlos is on it anyway, so a Ferrari is on there. I would have been disappointed if it was a boring race and we just finished fourth like we did now, but in the end, it was really fun. I enjoyed it a lot.

“I’m sure many people did not enjoy that — the guys on the pit wall perhaps had one heart attack or two, the Tifosi probably also — but for me, this is Formula 1, this is what it should be all the time.

“With Max, I’ve had these kinds of fights in the past, today was with Checo and Carlos. We, I think, were always at the limit of the regulations, whether it was defending or attacking and that’s exactly how I enjoy racing. So it was fun. Congrats to Carlos — he’s been really on it since the first lap in FP1, but I’m happy today.”

Leclerc ‘would love to stay’ at Ferrari but in no rush to open talks

Charles Leclerc says he “would love to stay” at Ferrari beyond the end of his current contract but is not in a rush to start negotiations with the team. This weekend’s Italian Grand Prix is Ferrari’s home race and leads to increased focus on the …

Charles Leclerc says he “would love to stay” at Ferrari beyond the end of his current contract but is not in a rush to start negotiations with the team.

This weekend’s Italian Grand Prix is Ferrari’s home race and leads to increased focus on the team and its performance, with both current race drivers out of contract at the end of next season. Team principal Fred Vasseur says he wants to clarify plans with Carlos Sainz one way or another before the end of this year, but Leclerc’s situation carries even more focus and the Monegasque says his intention is to re-sign.

“I have always loved Ferrari and I would love to stay,” Leclerc told BBC Sport. “I’ve always made it very clear that my goal is to try to be a world champion, but firstly with Ferrari.

“I know how difficult it is. We are not in the easiest situation. There is a big gap to fill to get to Red Bull’s level but Ferrari has helped me before I got into F1, believed in me and put me into the Ferrari seat very early on, and it’s always a team that I’ve loved.

“My priority is to win with Ferrari and it is not my worry whether I won’t achieve it or whatever. We just need to work on the team and try to improve it as much as possible, and I hope that I can achieve that one day.”

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Leclerc signed a five-year contract extension in 2019 that tied him in at Ferrari long-term, and says he’s comfortable waiting a little longer to begin further talks because of the team’s overall competitive position.

“There are some jokes here and there, but no serious talks yet … Honestly, I am not in a rush. I don’t think Ferrari’s priority is signing me at the moment, which is understandable because we are all just focused on trying to have the best race car possible as quickly as possible.

“I understand that. So for now we are just focusing on the season. I am sure talks will arrive at one point during the season, probably a bit later on.”

Leclerc feels Ferrari’s SF-23 was a decent step forward from last year’s car…but concedes the performance gap to Red Bull has widened all the same. Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Leclerc says Ferrari has not failed to hit its targets this season, but instead been caught out by how much progress Red Bull made.

“If we look on the technical side, whenever we put the car on the track at the first test, it was doing what we expected. So we expected it to be a good step forward. But unfortunately Red Bull had done twice the step, especially in the race(s), and that was just not good enough from our side.

“I don’t think we underachieved. I think just the targets were not the right ones.”