The positive news for Ferrari from the Barcelona weekend was the third podium of the season (secured by Charles Leclerc) and second place in the Constructors’ Championship standings.
The less encouraging news is that there has been no shift triggered by the flexible wing regulations—McLaren remains out of reach, and Red Bull isn’t quite within range either. After qualifying, Charles Leclerc had taken responsibility for the choices made in preparation for the 66-lap race (namely, sacrificing a set of softs in Q3 to have an extra set of mediums in the race), and judging by the final result, he was right.
However, Charles Leclerc’s merits were mostly in his driving. A crucial difference in the Monegasque’s race came in the first half-lap, when he passed Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, immediately latching onto Lewis Hamilton’s slipstream, as the Briton would later have to let him through due to a clear difference in pace.
Once in fourth place, though, Charles Leclerc’s race seemed to hit a ceiling. During the final stint, his pace on the second set of mediums wasn’t particularly fast—George Russell behind him reduced the gap from seven to four seconds. The safety car proved providential, allowing Charles Leclerc to switch back to softs, which helped him defend from George Russell and attack Max Verstappen, who had rejoined on hards.
There is, however, a small mystery surrounding Charles Leclerc’s final laps. His lap times weren’t impressive, and when Frederic Vasseur was asked whether there had been a problem with the car (Toto Wolff mentioned a possible oil leak), his answer was an indirect confirmation: “We had a small problem, but it had nothing to do with an oil leak.”
At the end of the race, Charles Leclerc forced a smile. Third place wasn’t the result he had hoped to greet as good news, but in light of this first third of the season, it effectively is. “Yesterday we decided to sacrifice qualifying a bit to have a better race,” he commented, “but I didn’t expect to end up on the podium, so I’m very happy. The first two stints were very positive, the last one on the mediums was a bit more complicated. But then the safety car came, which gave us the opportunity to fit softs again, and we made the most of it.”
A very different atmosphere was felt on the other side of the garage. Lewis Hamilton described the race as one of his worst experiences, and when asked if there was at least something positive to take away, his answer was blunt: “Zero.” Frederic Vasseur’s response was clear: “I think (Hamilton) spent 70% of the race ahead of Russell, and I don’t think Russell said his race was a disaster. But then we had a problem with his car during the last stint, before the safety car. The result isn’t good, but he did 45 laps in front of Russell.”
Once again, the Scuderia’s team principal did not want to disclose the issue that occurred on car number 44.
“Today’s race was far from what I had hoped for,” concluded Lewis. “I was confident before the race, after a good qualifying and with the car seemingly improving in performance. But in the race, the balance wasn’t what I wanted and we lacked pace from the start.
“At the moment we don’t have an explanation; we’ll need to analyze the data and understand whether there was some kind of problem. Congratulations to Charles, who did a great job and deserved the podium.” In the last five races, Leclerc has reached the podium three times—Hamilton hasn’t been there once since wearing red. Discontent is beginning to surface…
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