Leclerc: In the race we have nothing to stop the leaders

In Baku, Charles Leclerc won qualifying twice, but was unable to convert pole into victory. After the race, the Ferrari driver summed up the weekend…

Q: Charles, this weekend you won qualifying twice. Can we say that Ferrari has come close to Red Bull?
Charles Leclerc: A little bit, but in terms of race pace we are way behind, behind Aston Martin. This is what you should focus on. Probably on a fast lap we just take more risks, in qualifying I did two excellent laps to get ahead, but at the distance of the race we can’t resist them.

After a weekend like that we should be happy to get the most out of each session. I don’t think we could have done much better in any of those cases. Clearly at a race pace we need to seriously add.

Q: If we compare the first 17 laps of Sunday’s race and the sprint, how has the behavior of the car changed?
Charles LeclercA: It’s the same car. I drove it a little differently to save tires, but it didn’t affect the result. We really did everything we could, but in the race the car lacks speed.

Q: With six laps to go, you showed the fastest lap time. How well have you taken care of your tires so far?
Charles Leclerc: With our car, we have to take care of the tires, otherwise they will stop working, which will affect the result. I think we worked perfectly with tires during the race in Baku. We’re just not fast enough. The machine lacks efficiency.

Q: The start of the season proved difficult, but on Sunday you climbed the podium for the first time this year…
Charles LeclercA: Yes, I am very satisfied. I don’t think the six points I had for the stage in Baku reflect our real competitiveness. Of course our car is not as efficient as Red Bull and Aston Martin is far inferior, but we earned more points, which we finally took in Baku. For the next step, you have to work hard to force the leaders to fight in the race.

Source: F1 News

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