Charles Leclerc has said that bad luck isn’t an excuse for a disappointing 2023 British Grand Prix and that Ferrari understands where and why the car is weak.
The team qualified in fourth and fifth behind Max Verstappen and the McLarens, in what was somewhat of a pleasant surprise for the team.
But fell down to ninth and tenth in the race, in part due to bad timing with the safety car, although Leclerc says that this is not an excuse because the car was just not quick.
“Not having the pace puts us in a situation that is tricky to manage, whatever the situation is,” Leclerc said to the media. “So then it looks like bad luck.
“The timing of the safety car was definitely not the best for us, and it was beneficial for many other drivers but at the end of the day that’s life.
“We just didn’t have pace. It’s not like we degraded the tyres more than others, it’s just that Mercedes and McLaren were stronger for us.”
Ferrari struggled throughout the high-speed corners, despite Leclerc fending off George Russell in the opening stint – albeit with some suspect defending into the final chicane as the British driver alleged that Leclerc moved under braking.
Whilst Carlos Sainz lost a place to Russell and could not respond, later falling backwards into the clutches of Lewis Hamilton in the other Mercedes before Ferrari pitted the Spanish driver.
After the safety car for Kevin Magnussen‘s stricken Haas threw the team’s pit strategy out of the window and thereafter, Ferrari lost out to Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and almost Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll.
High-speed struggles
Leclerc said that Ferrari did not anticipate a strong performance around Silverstone.
“We know that this track was going to be one of our worst because of the high speed corners,” Leclerc added. “This is one of the weaknesses of the car.
“It was kind of a nice surprise to be so close yesterday… But then in the race, we’ve been struggling a lot and mostly in the high speed corners.
“I believe we know why we are struggling. It’s clear for us and we are pushing on the development, especially for these high-speed corners.
“And hopefully it will be better in the next race as the track characteristics should suit our car a bit better.”
