Throughout the 2023 season, the Ferrari team has struggled to register consistent results, with Charles Leclerc often struggling to reciprocate the results of one race in another despite driving a similar setup car. While many speculate multiple reasons for it, F1 Expert Peter Windsor labels Leclerc’s race engineer as the main culprit.
A Rundown on Charles Leclerc’s Often Criticized Ferrari F1 Race Engineer – Xavier Marcos Padros – EssentiallySports #Tifosi #F1 #essereFerrari #Ferrari #SF21 #CL16 #forzaferrari #Charles_Leclerc #CarlosSainz55 #Tifosiclub 🏎#liveyourferraripassion https://t.co/HWe6t88iCZ
— TIFOSI CLUB (@tifosiclub) August 17, 2021
Addressing the issue in a live stream on his YouTube channel, Windsor claimed that whenever Marcos Padros is given the responsibility to handle Leclerc’s race engineer duties, he undergoes a major lack of confidence, which leads to added responsibilities on the shoulders of the Monegasque.
“I’ve got to say, they do have talking to Charles [Leclerc], I mean, if I was Charles, I’d get a bit annoyed by that.”
“He says to Charles, things like, you can tell he’s thinking in his head ‘I wanna make sure Charles is happy with what we’re gonna do.’ Which, again, is going too far the other way. You don’t wanna be asking a driver to help you make a decision in the middle of the race.”
Engrossed in a high-intensity battle, a split-second decision can often be the defining factor that makes or breaks a driver’s race. With so much riding on the judgment of the driver, Windsor believes it is totally unwarranted to put an extra burden on them by asking them to make decisions regarding the pit strategies.
Enacting the weird conversations between Leclerc and his race engineer, Windsor pointed out how Padros often does know whether to stick with the team’s plan A or opt for plan B. As such, it becomes Leclerc’s responsibility to make the call.
While Charles Leclerc suffers, Max Verstappen enjoys the love-hate relationship with his engineer
Further in the stream, Windsor quipped over the absurdity of the “copy that” message in F1, most often heard from the mouth of Padros. As Windsor made fun of the message, even Max Verstappen recently gave his two cents on the message, as he said he did not like such simple and cold messages.
📰: Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s race engineer, talks about their evolving dynamic. He notes that Max has become more mature over the years, and they both strive for perfection. However, Lambiase admits his “biggest fear” is facing increased competition when they’re not… pic.twitter.com/G01jzXXxgC
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) November 8, 2023
The Dutchman and his engineer are famous as the married couple of F1, who are often at each other’s throats as the race progresses. Addressing the same, Verstappen said the fiery nature of the conversations is crucial for him to keep the drive within him alive. With an aggressive approach to each race weekend, the ‘arguments’ with Gianpierro Lambiase only fuel the fire within Verstappen.
While Verstappen and Lambiase have clear-cut communication with each other despite their famous disagreements, the situation at Ferrari is entirely different. Fans of Leclerc and the Prancing Horse have taken note of the same and are starting to call for a change in the team’s roster to better help Leclerc during a race.
