The Formula 1 race in Austria could not have started worse for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver had already had contact in turn 1, which caused severe damage to his front wing. An immediate pit stop was necessary. The hoped-for comeback? It did not happen and so the GP in Spielberg ended with a zero for Leclerc – despite the collision between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
After crossing the finish line, there was one emotion in particular that set the tone for Leclerc: frustration. Frustration about the course of the race and the early accident, as well as frustration about the general pace of his Ferrari. “I’m glad this race is over,” said Leclerc briefly, summing up his mood after the race at the Red Bull Ring.
Charles Leclerc: Sergio Perez to blame for start accident
He blamed one driver in particular for his accident in Turn 1: Sergio Perez. The Red Bull driver tried to gain a place against Leclerc late on the brakes, while at the same time Piastri had braked on the outside next to the Monegasque. Leclerc ran out of space in the middle and the collision could no longer be avoided.
“Checo was a bit optimistic. It never ends well here in Turn 1 when you try to drive three abreast. Even with two it’s tricky, but with three it was very difficult,” he said, pointing his finger at the vice world champion. “Oscar didn’t know, Checo was on the inside and I was just a passenger,” explained Leclerc.
After his pit stop in turn 1, Leclerc slowly made up ground again. Although he received information from his pit wall that he was on course for a points finish, Leclerc only managed to finish in 11th place. Leclerc blamed the traffic for this, as he was stuck for a long time behind Lando Norris, who was one lap ahead. “We had to spend a whole stint behind Lando. Because I couldn’t overtake him, otherwise I would have received blue flags,” said Leclerc angrily.
Next failure: Where has the Ferrari pace gone?
In addition, the SF-24, like at the last two Formula 1 weekends in Canada and Barcelona, was unable to deliver a good performance with Leclerc at the wheel. “It didn’t feel good to me. We’ve been having problems for three weeks and we don’t have a magic solution,” said Leclerc.
The two Ferraris were sent into the race with very different setups. On the other side of the garage, Carlos Sainz had a much better result. The Spaniard had been the dominant Ferrari driver in recent days and rewarded himself with a podium result after the accident involving Norris and Verstappen.
“We will look at it and analyse it,” Leclerc announced, comparing the two setups. But it’s about time for that, because the Monaco winner is getting impatient after three weak Formula 1 weekends in a row: “I didn’t expect these three results since Monaco. It was very difficult for the team and we still have a lot of work to do,” he said, demanding of his team.