Charles Leclerc and the difficulties in Hungary
The most disheartening aspect of Scuderia Ferrari’s result at the 2023 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring is that the seventh and eighth positions accurately reflect the level of the SF-23 single-seater in Budapest. Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were unable to compete not only against the Red Bulls but also the McLarens and the Mercedes. After some perhaps imprudent statements talking about aiming for the podium, the SF-23 clearly showed itself as the fourth force in the field today on the twisty track of Mogyorod.
Charles Leclerc, compared to Carlos Sainz, has a little more regret: the Monegasque driver had a slow first pit stop that cost him positions against his teammate and Lance Stroll, and then he received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. However, it would have been difficult to achieve more than sixth place. Here are his immediate post-race comments.
Charles Leclerc’s comments
“Were we optimistic based on the simulator data? Unfortunately, we have simulations for our own car; we know we perform better on tracks like this, but we don’t have simulations for the other cars, and evidently, the others performed even better. We need to work a lot on the car’s sensitivity to the wind, which is very difficult to manage,” said the Monegasque driver to Sky Sport F1 immediately after the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring track.
Patience and hope
“I know I’m repeating myself, but we need to work a lot. That’s what we’ve been doing since the beginning of the year: we had a very tough first part of the season, and we keep working, sooner or later the hard work will pay off. I’m not discouraged; I’ll give my all until the last race. The motivation is at 200%, unfortunately, right now we don’t have the right car to make things happen; we need to be patient, hoping that our moment will come after all the work we’ve done.” – Charles Leclerc concluded.
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