Charles Leclerc dreamt of a race victory which was soon snatched away from him at the US Grand Prix. After starting from pole position, the Monegasque planned to do all it took to clinch at least a podium. However, as the race started, viewers witnessed Lando Norris taking the lead from Leclerc in split seconds with a better reaction time.
Furthermore, the rest of the race which could have turned out better, Ferrari did what they do best – ruin their race with bad strategy. Ferrari’s strategy has been questioned a lot this season. And while Leclerc has been understanding of his team, it seems he is finally done with it.
As the poor strategy left the Monegasque finishing P6 after starting on pole, he has not held back his frustrations. He was heard on the radio message absolutely losing it. When Xavi chimed in as he passed the checkered flag he said, “You managed the tyres well.” Leclerc said, “Doesn‘t matter when we have such a sh*t result.”
Charles Leclerc post-race team radio (P6):
“Couldn‘t do any better with that strategy. I think I maximised everything with that strategy.”
Xavi: You managed the tyres well.
Charles: “Doesn‘t matter when we have such a shit result.”#USGP
— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) October 22, 2023
It was clear that the Monegasque was done with Ferrari’s shenanigans. He was also seen letting Carlos Sainz pass by because of an aggressive Sergio Perez pressuring him. Ferrari’s strategy left the Monegasque’s wish to get a race win in pieces. And while many have joked about the strategy and team radio of Ferrari, Leclerc is no longer in the mood to have a laugh at it.
Charles Leclerc criticizes Ferrari F1 strategy post-race at COTA
Charles Leclerc decided not to be quiet this time around. With Ferrari pulling their horrible strategies and testing them out at any given point, Leclerc seems to be done with it. As Carlos Sainz took a P4, the Ferrari star was left in P6 with Perez taking the position from him. So after the race when he was asked about the strategy, he seemed over it. The Monegasque has always kept his cool and spoken on behalf of the team, but this time he was not having it.
He said, “Well we are speaking a lot about it this season as a whole. There have been good races, there have been some others where we haven’t done the best job. Today it sure was one of those races where the strategy wasn’t right. We need to understand why our numbers were saying that a one-stop was very close to two stops and understand from there.”
“There’s no problem on that, I just needed an explanation”
Charles Leclerc reflects on his P6 at the US Grand Prix 🔴 pic.twitter.com/ltOgt81Lcp
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 22, 2023
Clearly confused by what the team was trying to achieve, he asked his team for answers. After Sainz got past him, Leclerc was in a tight spot with having to defend Perez. It was sure that at that moment, he was wondering where it all went wrong with him. From being in front of the whole grid to being 6 positions behind, it sure left him in turmoil.