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A Year After Losing Due to Ferrari’s Blunder, Charles Leclerc Jumps to Defend Questionable Monaco GP Strategy Call

Published 05/29/2023, 8:00 AM EDT

Fernando Alonso’s highlight of the season might not be the podiums that he scores but the change in personality that he has gone through. The Spaniard has not inflicted any criticism on his team yet and has, on the other hand, protected them from some. Charles Leclerc seems to be learning from the best man in the business as he defends Ferrari’s questionable strategy despite losing the Monaco GP a year ago because of a strategic error. What is Leclerc’s reason for defending Ferrari?

Charles Leclerc seems to run out of luck every time he races at his home GP. The Monegasque qualified a respectable P3 on Saturday but was given a 3-place grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris’ fast lap in Q3. Starting P6, things got worse as the race went on as overtaking was impossible and Leclerc was stuck behind Hamilton. Then came the inevitable rain which caught everyone out. Ferrari’s strategist pitted the car a lap later compared to Lewis Hamilton. The rain got heavier and Leclerc lost loads of time on the slicks before finally pitting.

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Many considered that Ferrari had made another blunder of a strategy. Leclerc lost the chance to compete for the title in 2023 because of Ferrari’s reliability issues and strategies. It was the strategy that cost Leclerc last year’s Monaco GP win. Multiple unnecessary pit stops and then double stacking behind Carlos Sainz left the once-leading Leclerc in P4. However, despite the 2022 blunders, Charles Leclerc jumped at the first chance given to him to defend the Ferrari strategy, suggesting it was not a mistake.

According to a video uploaded by F1 Finland on YouTube, Charles Leclerc was asked whether switching to Inters late was a good idea to which he replied “This is the most recurring question I’ve had here and we have done mistakes of strategy in the past but I don’t think this is a mistake. I think in those conditions you have more probability of having a safety car when there are so many cars on slicks with the rain. So we’re just trying to wait for the very last moment to hopefully get a safety car by someone making a mistake. That didn’t happen and that’s it, it was a choice to make.”

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It wasn’t only the strategy that was a concern, but also the performance of the SF23, especially in the wake of the car running in the front. It just looks like Ferrari made a competitive car and fell short of a couple of things.

Charles Leclerc on the SF 23 being a difficult car to drive.

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It’s been a known fact that Ferrari has been struggling on its tires ever since it started. The tyres overheated when following another car and the same was highlighted by Leclerc in Monaco. He explained how the SF23 is very difficult to drive in traffic and they could’ve ended up higher on the grid. The car was sketchy to drive in the wets and that’s all Leclerc had to say.

According to the video uploaded by F1 Finland, Charles Leclerc talking about the pace of the car said, “Honestly we have a very difficult car in traffic so, I think our pace is better than what we’ve shown today. At the end, I couldn’t do much more. The car was very difficult to drive in the wets, that’s it.”

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Watch this story: Charles Leclerc’s Rumored GF – a Charlotte Sine Look-alike Spotted in Monaco

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Written by:

Pranay Bhagi is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports, who has always been passionate about sports and writing. With a degree from a prestigious institute, he has channeled his enthusiasm into sports journalism, particularly F1, a sport that has captivated him for over a decade. Pranay's deep-rooted love for the sport began during the Sebastian Vettel era, and he has been following it religiously ever since.

Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai

A Year After Losing Due to Ferrari’s Blunder, Charles Leclerc Jumps to Defend Questionable Monaco GP Strategy Call

Charles Leclerc on the SF 23 being a difficult car to drive.

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