Charles Leclerc: “The 5 seconds penalty is clearly my fault.”
Charles Leclerc finished in 7th position in the Hungarian Grand Prix. The driver should have finished 6th, but received a 5-second penalty.
Ferrari has still not returned to the front of the hierarchy. Charles Leclerc finished the Hungarian Grand Prix in 7th place, just ahead of his teammate.
The Monegasque finished the race in 6th position but was given a 5-second penalty for exceeding 80 km/h in the pit lane.
A decent start to the race for the Ferrari driver. « Honestly, it went quite well during the first stint. We were managing the tires very well, and I was confident because I could keep up with the Mercedes ahead. Unfortunately, we had a pit stop that took too long, which cost us several positions. We ended up behind Stroll and had to push immediately with the hard tires, way too much, when it’s normally better to start off calmly and gradually increase the pace », stated the driver to Canal+.
The Monegasque could hope to finish in the top 5. « I hit the tires, and afterward, I was behind Carlos for the entire second stint. In the third one, I tried to push a little more. We caught up with Oscar [Piastri] in the end, but it wasn’t enough, and on top of that, we received a 5-second penalty. The 5 seconds are clearly my fault, but I think it’s a shame. A top 5 finish was possible if we had done everything perfectly. As for the four ahead, they are too fast for now », the 25-year-old driver continued.
Sound problems in the race car
The driver also mentioned his conversation with his race engineer. A discussion in a raised tone, but with a reason, as explained by the number 16 of the horse power team.
« The problem is that there are a lot of radio issues at the moment, and as a result, I shout a lot on the radio because I can barely be heard. I can be heard only half the time and very poorly. So maybe the tone of my voice isn’t right for that reason. But after that, it was a normal discussion. I asked to stop early because I knew there wasn’t much more pace than that. I think the last relay was more positive, but it didn’t change much,” Charles Leclerc concluded.
The Ferrari driver is currently 7th in the championship, just behind his teammate.
