Waiting for the miracle
Charles Leclerc finished in fourth place at the Spanish GP in Madring, taking advantage of teammate Lewis Hamilton’s retirement to improve by one position the placement obtained in qualifying. However, it cannot be said that the Monegasque and Ferrari did not try to play their cards to try to overturn the outcome of the race. Leclerc was indeed the protagonist of a very long stint on hard tires that allowed him to lead the race for many laps; the hope was for a red flag, a Safety Car, or at least an incident that would disrupt the ‘normal’ course of the GP and allow him to benefit from a less ‘time-consuming’ pit stop, somewhat like what happened to Kimi Antonelli. However, luck, as usual, did not smile on the #16 Monegasque.
Read more Antonelli: “It was not the way I would have wanted to win. I feel sorry for Norris”
“A miracle? Yes, that’s what we were waiting for at the end of the race – Leclerc commented to the microphones of Sky Sport F1 with a joke during the traditional post-GP interviews – we did such a long stint hoping for a Safety Car or a Virtual at the end, but unfortunately it never came. However, it was a very difficult race, especially physically: our car this year is very difficult to drive on a track like this and you can feel it. The stint on the hards went well; on the softs in the end there was no pace, but there is a specific reason for this and I know what it is. I won’t go into more detail, but it will be fine next time. It wasn’t a matter of tire or balance, it was something else that had nothing to do with performance but prevented me from pushing as I wanted, so I just preferred to manage the gap behind and that’s it until the end. After all, aiming to take third place in the last nine laps was impossible, so I just managed the situation and brought the car to the end“.
Read more 2026 Constructors’ Championship: the standings after the Spanish GP
Qualifying to improve
Still regarding the topic of soft tires, Leclerc acknowledged that the main problem of the SF-26 is qualifying: “Surely that is the most negative point we have: qualifying pace“, he concluded.
Read more Verstappen mocks Madring: “Keeping Norris behind? Just had to put the car in the middle”
