Following a challenging weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is calling for the team to regroup and make significant improvements before heading to Japan for next week’s race.
Leclerc had a promising start from sixth position on the grid, quickly climbing to fifth by overtaking Max Verstappen right at Turn 1. Unfortunately, things took a downturn when he collided with his new teammate, Lewis Hamilton, in Turn 2, which resulted in notable damage to the front wing’s endplate.
Faced with deciding whether to change the front wing during a pit stop, Leclerc and Ferrari opted to press on with the damaged component. The decision was based on the fact that a longer pit stop would cause him to drop further back in the field, especially given the difficulties drivers were facing with overtaking due to overheating tires and turbulent airflow in the sprint race.
Despite these setbacks, Leclerc managed to demonstrate impressive speed and finished the race in fifth place with the compromised wing. However, scrutiny from the FIA revealed that his SF-25 was underweight during the post-race technical checks.
Led by Jo Bauer, the FIA’s technical team swapped out Leclerc’s damaged wing for a spare part that was 0.2 kg heavier. Even so, the car remained one kilogram below the minimum weight limit after 2.0 liters of fuel had been drained. Consequently, Leclerc was disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix.
Reflecting on the difficulties encountered in China, Leclerc, an eight-time race victor in F1, expressed his thoughts: “The past weekend was tough for sure. We really have to hit the reset button and put in the work to flip things around in Japan, and I’m confident we can.”
He added: “I would also like to thank all the incredible supporters for their unwavering support during the weekend. The level of encouragement I receive in China never ceases to amaze me, and it means a lot.”
