On paper, Charles Leclerc did a great job of saving his weekend from the Canadian Grand Prix, bringing his Ferrari F1-75 from 19th place to P5. But the Monegasque believes more could be possible, as he described his Sunday in Montreal as “super disappointing”.
After retiring to Baku, Ferrari chose to supply Leclerc with a range of new powertrain elements, lowering it to the top of the back row along with Yuki Tsunoda’s penalty kick.
READ MORE: Verstappen survives at end of Safety Car to beat Sainz to win Canadian GP
But although Ferrari trimmed Leclerc’s wing to help speed in a straight line and overtake, his upward movement was not as fast as he would have liked, the Monegasque driver crashed into a DRS train at one point before touring 21- 40 trying and failing to cross the Alpine to Esteban Ocon.
The slow pit stop that missed him behind a group of midfielders he had already passed once compounded Leclerc’s disappointment – although his strong pace lately meant he could climb at least to P5 to claim 10 points.
“It was a super disappointing race,” Leclerc said. “The last part was good, but obviously the first part was stuck on a DRS train and there was nothing I could do. Then in the middle of the race I found myself behind Esteban, who had a lot of newer tires, so from turn 10, when the tires actually made the difference, he had very good traction and that was enough for him to keep me behind in the whole time.”
Leclerc got used to the view of Ocon’s Alpine
As Leclerc’s main character Max Verstappen won his fifth victory in six races, the silver moment for the Ferrari driver was that Sergio Perez failed to finish in the second Red Bull, which allowed Leclerc to finish three points from P2 at the Mexican in the standings.
But Leclerc was also encouraged by the strong pace of his teammate Carlos Sainz, who finished the race in less than a second from Verstappen.
Asked if he thought he could beat Verstappen without penalty from the engine, Leclerc replied: “I don’t know, I have no idea, because I didn’t see Red Bull at all during the race, they were just too far ahead. But the feeling was good, and whenever the feeling is good, it’s a good sign.
READ MORE: Sainz is proud to be “the fastest on the track for the first time this year”, although he missed his first victory in Canada
“I don’t know if it was enough or not to beat Red Bull. I think it was close all season and it would be close today. I don’t know, but I had the feeling that Carlos was strong today, so that shows that he would be as close as he was with Carlos. “
2022 Canadian Grand Prix: Leclerc defeats Botas of the last chicane to take the P7
Leclerc, meanwhile, added that he was impressed by the pace of Mercedes, Louis Hamilton and George Russell, finishing ahead of the Monegasque in P3 and P4 – with Leclerc predicting that if they can continue their current trend, they will be on the hunt for victory soon.
READ MORE: Hamilton says there is “more” after winning the first podium after Bahrain in Canada
“I don’t have the full picture of the race today, but they looked strong,” he said. “They looked much stronger than before and if they are constantly at this level, then they can get involved in this battle for victory.
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