Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc arrived at the paddock of the circuit dedicated to the Rodriguez brothers, appearing to have put the Austin race behind him. The disqualification that came three hours after the checkered flag of the United States Grand Prix was ultimately bad news for Charles but, all in all, good news for Ferrari. The team returned to the podium with Carlos Sainz, closing the gap on Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship.
In Mexico, Charles Leclerc discussed the evaluations made during the post-race briefing, starting with the one-stop strategy that significantly affected his race. “We understood, of course, that the choice was wrong. All the data has been rechecked, and I believe, in the end, it’s something that will help us grow. This particular occasion was different from others because we were the only car to do something so different in terms of strategies. But in the end, we understood what went wrong.”
When Ferrari received the news in Austin about the irregularity of car number 16, it took them by surprise, an impression also confirmed by Charles Leclerc. “Yes, it was a real surprise. The car had been frozen on Friday afternoon, and we were obviously fine. Then something happened. But rules are rules and must be respected no matter what happens. So it’s not an excuse to say that on Friday we were within the required parameters. You have to be able to anticipate events, and we were surprised because on Saturday night we were confident that we were well within the margins, so it’s clear that we didn’t predict something that then happened.” – he pointed out.
Last year, Ferrari faced difficulties in cooling the power unit in Mexico, a problem that forced the engineers to reduce the engine’s power to avoid overheating. This, of course, affected performance, with the team finishing fifth and seventh in qualifying and fifth and sixth in the race.
“Last year was a very, very difficult race for us,” Charles Leclerc recalls. “We had several problems with our package, especially regarding the power unit, but we don’t expect to have the same difficulties this year. I hope it can be a good step forward; our car is very different from the 2022 one, so I hope it will be a less challenging weekend.” – the Monegasque added.
Ferrari, like other teams, has modified their bodywork to meet the increased cooling needs of the power unit. The overheating nightmare will be tested in tomorrow’s free practice, but there will still be some concerns ahead of the race.
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“We know that when you’re in traffic, you always have to manage things differently than when you have the opportunity to drive in clean air,” Charles Leclerc explained. “Ideally, we would start from pole, but I consider it quite unlikely, so I expect a complicated race, but we will be better prepared than we were twelve months ago.”
The Ferrari man finally commented on McLaren’s position, which has reduced the gap to Ferrari to 80 points in the Constructors’ Championship with four rounds to go: “The gap is significant,” Charles emphasized, “but considering their confirmed good form in recent races, nothing is impossible. Having said that, we shouldn’t think about them but focus on ourselves. We’ve learned a lot in the second half of the season, which gives me good confidence for next year’s car. But in these last four races, we need to maximize what we have.” – Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc concluded ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix.
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