F1 | Dutch GP | Charles Leclerc P3: "Much better was difficult to do."
Charles Leclerc saved the day for the Scuderia with a third place and warns that Monza will be a difficult track
Charles Leclerc saved the day for the Scuderia Ferrari after securing a thirdin Zandvoort today. Starting from P2, Charles could not challenge Max for the victory and was out of the podium before the Safety Car gave the chance to reset startegies and challenge the Mercedes´cars for the podium.
After the race, Charles was honest with the result and the real possibilities the Scuderia had,
“To be honest I mean much better was difficult to do. We were a little bit unlucky with the VSC. I don't know if this will have changed anything, Max was too quick today. And then there was the Mercedes that were flying on the Hard tyres. We struggled to find the feeling on those tyres. So, we'll analyse that, but yeah, it's P3 for us today.”
On overtaking Lewis and securing the third place Charles explained it was not the easiest task.
“Lewis was struggling a little bit. He was on a used set. I had a bit more grip. We managed to overtake him, but they were still managing to keep those tyres very well on the last lap. So, it wasn't easy, but at the end, we made it stick.”
Asked if Ferrari is losing it considering how Mercedes closed the gap this weekend, Charles believes that Ferrari is struggling in race pace.
“I think everybody is obviously improving but in the last races, we've been struggling more a bit more in race pace. Now Mercedes is also in the fight and they are very quick. They were extremely quick today, especially on the Harder compounds. I think our pace on the Soft was really good at the beginning. We had used tyres, Max was on new, so I think the difference was more or less what we expected. But then, on the new Medium, we were slower than expected, for sure.”
Unfortunately for the Tifosi, Charles doesn´t believe Monza will be a good track for Ferrari.
“On paper, it's not our best track, unfortunately. But anyway, I'm really looking forward to go there. We always have a massive amount of support. And for that, I'm really looking forward to it. But I think the performance on paper will be a bit more difficult than this weekend, unfortunately.”
