Charles Leclerc left this Sunday’s (19) Belgian Formula 1 GP satisfied with Ferrari’s performance, despite finishing in second place. The Monegasque highlighted that the SF-26’s race pace was better than expected and believes the result reinforces the team’s progress for the upcoming stages.
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After a qualifying session that exposed the car’s limitations, Ferrari managed to fight for the win at Spa-Francorchamps. Leclerc acknowledged that the virtual safety car deployment favored his strategy, but emphasized that the performance throughout the race was also an important factor.
“The deficiencies we expected to have this weekend ended up showing up. After that, we really did everything. Honestly, the start was fun on my part. We had a very strong acceleration after Eau Rouge and that allowed me to overtake both Russell and Verstappen on the straight. It was great,” he said.
“Then, we also got lucky with the VSC. I gladly accept that luck! It’s the second weekend in a row… But we can’t forget that luck. We had difficulties on the straights today, but the pace wasn’t bad,” he added.
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Leclerc also revealed that he faced a difficult moment with the Hard tires, unable to immediately identify the cause of the performance loss. “I need to analyze the stint with the hard tires, because there were five or six laps where I had difficulties with the front. I don’t know if the car hit something or if I did something wrong at that moment, but I felt the car was strange. After that, the pace came back.”
In the final part of the race, the Monegasque managed to keep up with Kimi Antonelli after being overtaken and believed he could still fight for the win. “I was also surprised after the overtake Kimi made on me. I thought he would easily pull away, but with the slipstream, I managed to stay there and believed until the end, but we didn’t have enough speed.”
Thinking about the Hungarian GP, Leclerc believes the track may favor Ferrari, but avoids putting the team as favorites. “We know that the SF-26 will adapt better to Hungary than to Spa. However, we arrived in Monaco thinking we were the favorites, but Mercedes also showed to have a great car on the more technical circuits. I don’t think Ferrari is the favorite; Mercedes is a step ahead of us, but we will do everything to be in the right place at the right time, in case we have the opportunity to win.”
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