Charles Leclerc believes the strategy error which potentially cost him victory in the Mexican Grand Prix could have been avoided if he’d given better feedback.
The Ferrari driver led the race from pole position but an early pit stop locked him into a two-stop strategy. As a result he fell behind Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, all of which finished the race with just one pit stop.Although the timing of Leclerc’s pit stop was the team’s call, he said he could have helped them choose a better strategy.
“I believe that I can have a better influence on on my strategy,” said Leclerc. “Especially the last race, there was definitely more things I could do as a driver to try and help the team to take the better decision.
“This is part of the learning process and I need to get [on top of] it as much as possible or as quickly as possible to try and not do these mistakes again.”
Leclerc also revealed he experimented with changes in his driving style during the race. “I believe on my side I’ve not been perfect, especially in the races,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of improvements to do on my side.
“In Mexico I’ve learned actually quite a lot. Obviously, from the outside, it’s always quite difficult to see, but on the driving style and things, I tried quite a lot of things during the race and I have a clear idea of what to try here.”
However he believes simple misfortune is also part of the reason why Ferrari hasn’t converted any of its last three pole positions into victories.
“We’ve been unlucky in some races, obviously,” he said. “I think Sochi be could have been another win. But we could not control the [power unit] failure of Seb [Vettel] which created a Virtual Safety Car and then it went downwards.
“So there have been a few missed opportunities. But I don’t think it’s as bad as it looks.”
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Gigantor (@kbdavies)
1st November 2019, 0:31
Charles doesn’t seem to know what is going on yet. He has been effectively neutered, but seems to have swallowed whatever Ferrari have fed him hook, line and sinker.
If given half a chance, Ferrari will stiff him up in favor of his teammate. This is a team that turned his pole position into a fourth and let his teammate win. And it isn’t the first time they have stuffed up his strategy so as to favor Vettel.
magon4 (@magon4)
1st November 2019, 6:53
Well, that’s really not how I read the strategy, and I guess most people haven’t. Imagine if they had called Seb in instead of Charles – people would be saying they are hanging the young driver out for undercutting (Singapore).
So, don’t agree with that narrative of yours at all, respectfully.
Patrick (@anunaki)
1st November 2019, 8:06
Looking back is always easy.
But Ferrari and tactics is usually not a good combination :P
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
1st November 2019, 12:35
Ferrari are so bad at executing strategy, that sometimes it looks horrible for their #2 driver. Effectievly giving away multiple positions from the lead. Clearly Vettel is annoyed, things were better at RedBull.
Leclerc will learn in time.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
1st November 2019, 12:35
Ferrari’s tactics are generally terrible enough for Vettel to direct most of it from the car on track, so Leclerc probably could make a bit of a difference there. There’s little trust in the pitwall from the drivers.
Hans Herrmann (@twentyseven)
1st November 2019, 13:37
Leclerc’s confidence to publicly critisize himself comes from years of excelling. Imagine if Vettel critisized himself to the same extent this season! People would be demanding that he hang up his driving boots and let someone not so prone to spins to step in..
It will be interesting to see how Leclerc attitude changes throughout his career. He will inevitably have a bad season or two and he may at times need to defend questionable driving.
It’s a brilliant strategy for now though. He’s always one step ahead of negative press. And being so self critical people tend to believe him when he then defends himself, e.g. when he ran Hamilton off the road in Canada and claimed he thought he left a car’s width.
Islander
1st November 2019, 15:44
Ferrari need to put the kid in his place by giving HIM some feedback.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
1st November 2019, 18:26
They have, on multiple occasions this season, at least some of which has previously been reported by RaceFans. And Charles is trying to learn from it (I didn’t hear anything like as much negative radio traffic in Mexico as I did when he was told off for it in Singapore three races earlier…)
Ipsom
1st November 2019, 17:07
No where does he mention that he could have been given better feedback. There’s truth in the statement but leclerc did not say that
F1oSaurus (@)
1st November 2019, 20:34
Did you read the article at all?
He clearly states over and over that could have done better to inform the team