F1 | Turkish GP | Leclerc about the missed podium: “The pit-stop arrived too late”
The Monegasque talked of the strategy adopted last-minute by him and Ferrari to try and get third place. It didn’t end up as expected but the weekend has been positive for him.
Charles Leclerc tried to top the podium finish during the Turkish Grand Prix and ended up in fourth place. The Ferrari driver had an intense race and he felt he was very close to an incredible result, P3 would have been a breath of fresh air for both him and the Prancing Horse team, who are facing a couple of disappointing seasons.
Leclerc tried to manage tyres so that he could avoid pitting, go off until the chequered flag, and finish on the lowest place of the podium. The pit stop was needed though, so he had to settle for a fourth place. Talking to the Italian broadcast of Sky just after the race, the Monegasque let go of his frustration for the result.
“We have tried so hard until the end – he stated, before analysing the performance of the Intermediate tyres, a weird one according to the Ferrari driver – The behaviour of the Intermediate tyres has been quite funny, to be honest. Everybody went for new tyres and despite this we were still the fastest in that phase.”
“Unfortunately, after six or seven laps, the drivers who pitted managed to clean out their tyres from the graining and they found their pace. At that point, we were too slow so we came in. The pit stop arrived too late. I suffered in the phase in which the graining came in.”
Nevertheless, Leclerc cannot feel too disappointed, as he still regards this race as a very positive one for Ferrari. “The car behaved so much, especially in the first stint, - he admitted – the second one is a bit tougher to judge. The tyres weren’t working out as they should have. In general, it has been a very positive weekend.”
We're here, let's get it 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/mSADfZMfxF
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) October 7, 2021
