Leclerc confused with Ferrari’s race pace drop since F1 2020 start

Charles Leclerc feels confused with Ferrari pace post F1 Tuscan GP, where it is now behind in races but better in qualifying as opposed to start of the year.

In the world of F1, some things are just beautifully compatible; they gel. And in the case of last weekend’s Tuscan GP, drivers and teams were left to see to what extent their cars were suited to the track of Mugello, and the answers varied as one would expect.

For Mercedes, the track was to their liking, as it was for many mid-field F1 teams, with the notable exception being Ferrari. As much as they expected it to, their car couldn’t gel with Mugello, even though it was better than Spa and Monza, at least.

Nonetheless, Leclerc mustered up the strength to put his Ferrari third, before being passed by Racing Point’s Lance Stroll. The Canadian proved the first of many to make it past the Monegasque, who ended the race in ninth but promoted to eighth.

Leclerc explained he feels confused as the car now is slower in races than at the start of the season. “We were just slow,” he said. “I didn’t have the pace, we did a good start, I put myself in the best position, I had Mercedes that were going away and I had free air.

“But there was just no pace. Lots of things happened in the race, but one thing hasn’t changed, which is that we have to work hard to improve our performance. The race itself was quite fun. I was happy every time there was a standing start because it was an opportunity for us to try and fight for positions.

“The car was quite difficult to drive, especially on the Hard tyres. Towards the end it became a bit better on the Softs, but overall, it’s very tough at the moment. Also, we need to understand because some races we weren’t competitive in qualifying but we were better in race, which was mostly at the beginning of the season, now we seem to do better in qualifying but losing massively in the race, so it is a difficult moment,” summed up Leclerc.

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