From 3rd to 6th
There were ups and downs in the last Japanese Grand Prix for Ferrari, where the Maranello team secured a podium finish with Charles Leclerc, who delivered an excellent performance. The Monegasque driver, however, suffered some problems with the SF-26 especially during qualifying, as did his teammate Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion, starting from sixth position, crossed the finish line in the same spot, despite having occupied a virtual podium position for several laps before Leclerc’s comeback.
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Not surprisingly, after the race, the Englishman expressed his bitterness over the overtakes suffered by his pursuers, without providing a precise explanation: “I followed the team’s instructions on how to best use the energy, but I still had great difficulty keeping up with the opponents. I don’t understand”. One who instead seems to have understood what went wrong is another world champion like Jacques Villeneuve, winner of the world title in 1997.
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The price to pay
The 54-year-old Canadian analyzed Ferrari’s behavior on track, comparing it to that of the Mercedes, the championship dominators so far: “Ferrari is very competitive in the race – he explained – we see that the drivers manage to handle it well, they can fight and the car reacts very spontaneously. This gives them a better feeling in the race compared to the two Mercedes drivers. I noticed that every time the Mercedes were involved in a fight shortly after the start, they either both lost out or gave up several positions; this with a car that remains the fastest on track over a lap, and it seems strange to me. On track, you can see that the Ferrari has a livelier rear end. Sometimes this works to the disadvantage of Leclerc and Hamilton. It could be seen, especially with Charles, already in free practice, how the rear of the car slipped away from him several times. I believe that Hamilton is also struggling with this sliding, and in the end, this affects the tires, so he had to pay the price at the end of the race. It is a trend we have seen on the Ferrari since the beginning of the season and it will continue”.
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