‘Disappointed’ Charles Leclerc reacts to P4: “The best we could hope for today” | 2024 Belgian GP. Charles Leclerc's comments after P4 in Belgian GP.

A complex race
Despite starting the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position thanks to Max Verstappen’s penalty, Scuderia Ferrari knew it would be difficult to convert the good result from Saturday into a victory. Charles Leclerc fought tooth and nail as usual, managing to maintain first position after the start – which at the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is far from a given – but had to concede to the faster Mercedes W15 car of Lewis Hamilton on the third lap.

The Monegasque then finished in fourth place, being overtaken by George Russell’s strategy and a nice move by Oscar Piastri on lap 36 on the outside of Les Combes. For the Monegasque driver, there are few regrets at the end of the Belgian Grand Prix; the feeling is indeed that he did the maximum given the pace and performance of the SF-24 single-seater. Charles Leclerc remains in third place in the drivers’ championship, with a 10-point advantage over Oscar Piastri and 101 points behind leader Max Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc’s comments
“What happened is very simple, we were not fast enough. It seemed we were the fourth car today, we expected McLaren and Red Bull, but Mercedes was faster than expected. And in a normal race, on a dry track, keeping them behind is very difficult. We did a good job keeping Max and Lando behind, but 4th place was the best we could hope for today. We thought we were on par with Mercedes, but they had an advantage. For this reason, I do not consider the result positive; it went worse than expected.” – Charles Leclerc admitted.

“I thought McLaren had a huge advantage in pace, but today it was less evident. Unfortunately, we are the fourth force. The top three keep changing, but we are there, at best on par with Mercedes. The strategy? We did well to align with the others; I understand the team’s point of view. You can do whatever you want tactically, but you will always lose positions because we are not fast enough. The bouncing? At the end of the race, there was a bit more because we were pushing at high speed, and obviously, there were more problems. I am very disappointed with this result.” – Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc concluded at the end of the Belgian Grand Prix.