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Charles Leclerc has sent an uncompromising message to Ferrari in the F1 Imola GP, as he claimed that he could not accept the situation that the team was in. The driver had an eventful Italian race, where he started from P11. After a decent start where he made up one position, the driver would follow a very aggressive approach to his racing.
Leclerc made an aggressive move on Pierre Gasly as he overtook him on track. When he was stuck behind Lance Stroll, the Ferrari driver turned the entire race on its head as he triggered the undercut by pitting early. By being early on the hard tires, he made up multiple places and even jumped George Russell in the process.
It was only the two ill-timed stoppages with the virtual safety car and safety car that made the driver pit and lose his strategic advantage. Ultimately, he would finish the race in P6 as he came home on older hard tires after being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon on fresh rubber.
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Talking to the media after the race, Charles Leclerc made it clear that he was not going to accept being P11 in a Ferrari and hence went for a more aggressive approach. Talking to the media, including Motorsport, the driver said:
“I was saying before the race, it was one of the races where you've got to race with the heart and you've got to put the elbows out a little bit. I know that when it's like this, you go very much on the limit, sometimes a little bit over.
"But when you are starting P11, I mean, as a driver, I just cannot accept the situation we are in. I took risks. I don't think that with Pierre Gasly, I was particularly at fault over the limit. It was just a racing incident in the way it was."
The driver also touched upon his move on Alex Albon, where he pushed the Williams driver off the track. Talking about the moment, Leclerc felt that the move was on the limit for sure, but he didn't think it was over it at any moment. He said:
“With Alex, it was very much on the limit for sure. I thought that in the way the rules are written, I was right on the limit of those rules. I've got to check the images again, but I don't regret anything I've done. I mean, today was all about giving it all. And I knew from the moment that I didn't take the pitstop on the second safety car that it was going to be a very difficult race.”
Charles Leclerc is not looking forward to Monaco
Charles Leclerc is heading to his home race in Monaco, a race that he won last season from pole position. Things have, however, changed a lot since last year, as at that time the driver was in contention to win, and the form was with him.
This time, it did not appear to be the case, as the driver did not have the right package underneath him. When questioned what he was expecting from his home race, he was not too optimistic, as he said:
"A very difficult weekend. I think Monaco is exposing quite a few weaknesses of our car, so I don't know, but there are also many things that you cannot really expect. The amount of risk you take in qualifying, the car is set up in a very different way, so I hope we will be surprised.”
Charles Leclerc will be home for a good run of form at this home race for sure, but looking at how Ferrari has performed recently, it's going to be hard to expect the driver to do well.
