Charles Leclerc and Ferrari collected yet another disappointing grand prix this afternoon in a season that started badly and continued in the same vein: lack of competitiveness compared to initial expectations.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Monegasque was unable to go beyond seventh place, although in the first stint he showed decent pace compared to most of the drivers who preceded him after the start.
The disappointment of the weekend derives from the fact that the track in Budapest was also considered by the team to be one of the most favorable to the characteristics of the SF-23. On balance, however, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes turned out to be faster. The Reds – Leclerc underlined it once again – suffer a lot from crosswinds and they proved it again today.
“We have the simulations on our car, we know we are a little better on tracks like the Hungaroring, but we don’t have the simulations of the other cars and some of them felt even better than us,” said Leclerc after the race.
“We have to work very hard on the sensitivity of the SF-23 with the wind, it’s very difficult to manage. I know I repeat myself, but we have to work hard and that’s what we’ve been doing since the beginning of the year. We had a very difficult first part of the season and we’re continuing to work. I’m sure it will pay off”.
Leclerc’s afternoon was made even more complicated by a very slow pit stop due to a malfunctioning gun on the rear left wheel nut. Then Charles was handed a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane as he came in for his tire change.
“It was certainly a shame today. With the first set of tires I felt quite good, honestly. I had a good pace. Then in the first pit stop we lost a lot of time and I ended up behind. Then with Carlos we maybe lost more time. With the last set of tires instead I went back to pushing a little more and it went better. But I got a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Not a great day.”
“Today, talking exclusively about the race pace, we weren’t so bad. But with a slow pit stop and with an additional 5 second penalty the second stint wasn’t good enough. We lost time from the drivers ahead of us. Max is unbeatable, Lando still had a good pace in front, we have to take a step forward, because there are certainly Red Bull and McLaren ahead of us”.
Despite yet another year in red below expectations, Leclerc continues to claim that he is not demotivated at all. Indeed, his intention is to keep pushing the team to improve this year’s car and be in a better position in 2024 and for the future.
“I’m not demoralized by this situation. Zero. I will always give everything until the last race. Unfortunately we have lots of radio problems. One word out of 4 is heard in communications. And in any case today everything was clear about what I had to do. However, the motivation is 200%. Unfortunately for now we don’t have a car to do special things, to overtake. We have to be patient and I hope that our moment will come through work,” concluded the Ferrari driver.
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