Charles Leclerc was left discouraged after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after his race at the Jeddah circuit was filled with horror. The Monegasque had qualified P2 behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez but was handed a 10-place grid penalty for taking new engine components.
Leclerc started the race from P12 on Soft tyres and was able to rise through the grid to reach P7 behind his teammate Carlos Sainz. Although as soon as he got within a second of Sainz he lost his DRS and from that moment onwards, there was nothing much but pain and disappointment for the Ferrari star.
During the race, there was also a bit of miscommunication from the side of his engineer, which ruined Leclerc’s mood. With Leclerc currently at P8, it seems as though the 25-year-old has lost all hope for the 2023 championship.
Moreover, while Leclerc started P12, his rival Max Verstappen started P15 and yet the Dutchman was able to comfortably overtake him. While the Ferrari driver could not finish better than P7, Verstappen went on to grab the podium with a P2 finish.
🎙️| Charles Leclerc:
“I don’t know if Mercedes were out of reach. Once I got within 1.5s of Carlos, it was very difficult to get any closer. The pace difference was not big enough.”
“I did a small mistake when I was in DRS, and then when I lost it, that was it. I stayed there.”
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) March 19, 2023
Charles Leclerc left frustrated after the Saudi Arabian GP
Lance Stroll‘s sudden DNF triggered a safety car. During this time, most of the drivers were pitted to gain an advantage over their rivals.
Leclerc had pitted for hard tyres before the safety car and was of the impression that they weren’t fighting anybody. The Monegasque explained that he was maintaining a gap under the safety car to push his hard tyres.
But then his race engineer told him that Lewis Hamilton ahead had pitted under the safety car and he needs to push right after the safety car period ends. Leclerc was exasperated and replied that he needs to be given that information before.
Just not good enough
Following the massive changes at Ferrari, hopes were higher for the Scuderia in the 2023 season. But after two opening races of the season, it seems as though the Scuderia will not be able to fight for the top position this season any time soon.
At the opening race in Bahrain, the team struggled with tyre degradation, which even saw Leclerc’s retirement from the race. While the team delivered better performance in Jeddah, there are still things that need to be improved.
After the race, Leclerc said that there was less degradation in Jeddah but overall performance is ‘just not good enough’.
