Charles Leclerc takes a good fifth place at the end of the GP SingaporeStarting ninth and stuck in traffic, the Monegasque took advantage of the excellent strategic choice made by the pit wall to gain as many positions as possible and make up for what he had lost in yesterday's qualifying.
Good race by Leclerc in Singapore, but a lot of regret for the points lost on Saturday
A 2024 season that for Ferrari is proving to be increasingly characterized by ups and downs. Who knows with a certain consistency where Sainz and Leclerc would be in the standings now. Three victories between the two of them, unlike the only joy obtained last year by the Spaniard in Singapore. Unfortunately, as we know, the updates brought to the car between Imola and Barcelona did not work, leaving the Maranello team struggling against Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes. However, the situation seems to have rebalanced in favor of the red team, which with Charles Leclerc climbed onto the podium uninterruptedly from the Belgian GP to the one in Baku. A newfound competitiveness, which seemed to favor the Red team here too on the streets of Singapore, given the good pace shown on Friday in testing and, above all, today in the race.
It was not so. The bad qualification yesterday compromised the race of the two Ferrari drivers. Leclerc, who got off to a good start and overtook Tsunoda's Racing Bulls, was forced to follow Alonso and Hulkenberg's cars for the entire first stint. He then completed many laps on the medium tyre, hoping for a safety car that unfortunately did not arrive, as has been the case for the last eight races. In the end, however, the strategy adopted for the race paid off. After the pit stop, Leclerc found himself ahead of Hulkenberg's Haas and, with much fresher tyres than his competitors, he managed to climb up to fifth position, overtaking Russell for fourth at the end of the race.
Leclerc takes responsibility: "I'm the one to blame for qualifying"
Towards the end of the race, Leclerc, freed himself from Alonso, Hulkenberg and Sainz, found himself in a clear track situation, ready to chase the fifth position occupied by Lewis Hamilton. At that moment, on hard tyres, the full potential of Ferrari’s race pace was seen, which on paper could at least aspire to conquer a good podium finish. However, starting so far back, in ninth position, proved fatal for Charles Leclerc, who wanted to return today after the race to what happened yesterday.Today we did a perfect execution, considering the qualification. Certainly yesterday the temperatures were not right, but I also went long in turn one. If anything, I am the one to blame for the qualifying and with my statements yesterday this message did not get across".
Leclerc adjusts his aim out of respect for his team, but already yesterday Vasseur, in response to Ivan Capelli's questions, had made it clear that, in reality, the Monegasque driver was not free from blame either. In fact, starting a little further ahead would have certainly helped Leclerc in the race for the podium, but instead the Monegasque had to settle for the maximum obtainable. A good result, given the premises, achieved, as mentioned, thanks to the strategy adopted by the pit wall.
"I think we did a great job., despite the first part of the race, where we lost a lot behind Nico and Fernando. It was a good race, but not enough for fourth place. We talked a lot about strategy, but it's always difficult to choose. I think it was better to make two different choices with the two machines. We were hoping for the Safety Car, but we knew that for our race it wouldn't be a disaster to go long. So yeah, I have no regrets about this race.".
