"We need to fix that”: Charles Leclerc opens up about Ferrari's problems persisting since 3 or 4 races

F1 Grand Prix of Hungary - Final Practice
Charles Leclerc prepares to drive in the garage during final practice ahead of the 2023 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

One of Charles Leclerc and Ferrari's radio conversations was broadcast during the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP. In it, both Leclerc and his race engineer, Xavier Marcos Padros, had a heated back and forth regarding the strategy.

Although F1 fans and pundits discussed quite a lot about the radio message, the Monagasque driver recently explained what the real reason behind it was.

Leclerc explained to the media how Ferrari has been experiencing radio connection issues for the past few races, which was the main reason why both he and his race engineer had to raise their voices.

"We had a lot of problems with the radio and one out of four words is not understood by the engineer, because there's just been problems with the radio for three or four races. We need to fix that," he said.

Charles Leclerc explained that the tone of his voice was high because he was trying to make himself heard.

"My tone of voice is quite high because I need to make myself heard. I wanted to make sure they didn't hear me wrong and that I wanted to be aggressive early and not aggressive late. So it was just about clarifying because of our radio issue," he added.

Radio communication is crucial for any team and its drivers since that's how they discuss all the possible strategies and the car's performance during any Grand Prix session. Ferrari needs to fix the issue as soon as possible to have a clear connection with its drivers during any session.


Ferrari team principal's thoughts on Toto Wolff's comments about F1 and F2 cars

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff recently stated that it feels like Max Verstappen is driving an F1 car while others are driving an F2 car. The statement was made to give a sense of the sheer speed difference between Red Bull and the rest of the field.

However, Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur does not agree with the statement and insisted that the grid felt the same way when Wolff's team, Mercedes, was dominating before Red Bull.

At a press conference after the race, Vasseur was asked for his thoughts on Wolff's comment. He replied (via formu1a.uno):

“Give him an F2 and we'll see (laughs). Red Bull is in front, but the feeling is the same as when Mercedes was there. We must focus on us and do more and minimize mistakes. I don't think it makes sense to make these kinds of statements.”

Red Bull is currently leading the championship with 452 points, while Ferrari only has 167 points.

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