Ferrari-Leclerc, other tensions: he asks for the soft ones, they mount the hard ones | FP

Nightmare for two days

The Spanish weekend of Charles Leclerc it was completely forgettable. The Monegasque driver hoped to redeem himself after the difficult race faced in the Principality, in front of his fans, but on the Barcelona circuit the situation started to deteriorate as early as Saturday. Clamorously eliminated in Q1 in qualifying, Leclerc started from the pit lane in the race, after the team had replaced the entire rear on his SF-23 in order to remedy the difficulties encountered by the #16 in the car. However, the comeback attempt of the vice-world champion stopped at the11th place, even outside the points zone. A hard blow to digest for the idol of the Ferrari public, who in front of the journalists’ microphones – at the end of the GP – didn’t hide, albeit gracefully, a obvious frustration.

Tensions with the wall

By analyzing the radio communications with your own box wall, however, you discover how already during the race there was no lack of tension between Leclerc and the men of the Ferrari team. The episode intended to make more discussion, which is part of a long line of strategic misunderstandings between the driver and the Scuderia, arrived just before the final pit stop. At that moment Leclerc had to prepare for the final stint, in which it was clear that he would have to try to push hard to finally try to recover positions and at least enter the points. For this reason, thanks to a disastrous first part of the race with the hard tyres, the 25-year-old from Monaco had clearly in mind to continue with a new set of soft tyresalthough used.

Eloquent silence

However, the team had different ideas and after a polite but certainly direct exchange of views between Xavi Marcos – the driver’s track engineer – and Leclerc himself, it was decided to go on the harder compound. What leaves one perplexed, however, is the way in which the decision was arrived at. Indeed, after the 25-year-old Monegasque had expressed his preference for the soft, the green light for this solution had come from Marcos. At a time when Leclerc was already going through the pit race, however, the countermand has arrived. An attitude that clearly left the Principality’s pilot himself dumbfounded. In fact, it does not seem a coincidence that Leclerc did not utter a word until the end of the race, only opening up after the checkered flag with Marcos to briefly analyze the race and – in particular – the performance of the white tire.

The radio conversation

Marcos: “Hardcore box”.
Leclerc: “Aaargh no no. Let’s go soft.”
Marcos: “Ok received”.
Leclerc: “So I’ll stop in this round?”.
Marcos: “Yes, box this round”.
(Leclerc enters the pit lane)
Marcos: “Let’s go with the hardcore, let’s go with the hardcore”.