Charles Leclerc crossed the finish line in fourth place Belgian GP, followed by Verstappen and Norris. Then, the disqualification of Mercedes George Russell gave the podium to the Monegasque driver. After the twenty-fifth Pole Position of his career, Leclerc was unable to turn his excellent qualifying into victory. A fairly predictable result given the murky waters in which Ferrari has been sailing since the beginning of June.
Leclerc distraught in the post Belgian GP: "we are not fast enough"
This weekend in Belgium Charles Leclerc did everything right. The track should have been extremely difficult for the two Ferraris, but instead the Scuderia's number 16 managed to grab an unexpected Pole Position in qualifying. This is the twenty-fifth wheel, making him to date the second driver with the most poles in the history of the Cavallino after Schumacher. Leclerc also did his part in the race: a great start that saw him take cover from Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton. Then, the inferiority of his car compared to those of his opponents began to be felt. The Englishman from Mercedes overtakes him in the first laps of the race.
But Leclerc doesn't give up. In fact, until the second stop the Monegasque driver didn't seem to let go of Hamilton, constantly following him at a gap that fluctuated between a second and a half and two seconds. At the end of the race, however, his Sf24 seems to have no more left. Oscar Piastri approaches in just a few laps and overtakes Leclerc, launching himself in pursuit of the two Mercedes. At the end of the race Verstappen and Norris also came under the Ferrari number 16, attempting in vain to attack fourth place. A complicated race, fought with a knife between the teeth. Unfortunately, however, the current limitations of the car have withered the possible fruits of an excellent performance offered by the Monegasque.
Post-race Leclerc reflects on the strategy and performance of his car
Leclerc appeared distraught in front of the Sky cameras after the race. The drawn face of someone who knows they have everything but that it isn't enough. The news of Russell's disqualification and the podium achieved at the last minute will certainly have given the Ferrari driver a certain amount of relief. But we are still talking about an elusive relief, which is immediately consumed by the reality of the facts. This is because, despite the small steps forward made by Ferrari in Hungary and Belgium, the music has not changed. Leclerc is still unable to fight for the important positions and, unfortunately, the car continues to present various problems and lack of competitiveness. “The faster we went in the corners, the more bouncing we had, but we expected this. The problem is that we are not fast enough in general. We knew how strong McLaren and Red Bull were, though what disappointed me today was seeing Mercedes going very fast with both cars. We thought we would compete with them, but they were the best ".
Regarding the strategy, Leclerc was forced to admit that, in fact, Russell's strategy would have been ideal. The English driver, however, had nothing to lose. He was virtually traveling in fifth place when he decided not to opt for the second stop. Leclerc, however, after so much effort and after a long time, was in second place, not far from Lewis Hamilton and fighting for victory. “Knowing how it went we would have tried just one stop. But he only did that George who had much less to lose than us. We, however, followed what the others did, but the pace wasn't there".
