Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc again had to ruminate what might have been at home in Monaco after taking a three-place grid penalty and posting a distant sixth-place finish on race day.
The Monegasque has a woeful record at his home event thanks to mechanical problems, crashes and strategic errors, and before this year’s race he had only seen the checkered flag once on the streets where he grew up, after finishing fourth in the season. pass. .
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I was keen to correct that this time around, but a typically strong qualifying to third was undone by a crash on the grid for impeding McLaren rival Lando Norris and, despite the mix of dry and wet conditions throughout the race , eventually ending up where it started in P6.
Asked if the damage was caused by his post-qualifying penalty, Leclerc said: “Yes, exactly. After [qualifying]the three penalty grid positions, starting sixth there was not much more [I could do].
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“The pace was not very good today. I mean, it was actually pretty good on the rough. [tyres]. On the slicks it was good, but there is nothing to do here. It was basically a waiting game and then when we started to push the tires had come off a little bit.
While that penalty worked against him, with Monte Carlo’s narrow, winding streets offering few opportunities to make up lost ground, Leclerc also made a pessimistic assessment of Ferrari’s current level of performance.
“We are not happy with where we are,” said Leclerc, as his teammate Carlos Sainz followed him home in eighth. “We have a lot of work to do to get performance back, because we are too far away for now.”
Ferrari leaves Monaco sitting fourth in the builders classificationbehind Mercedes, Aston Martin and Red Bull, while Sainz and Leclerc occupy the sixth and seventh position respectively in the battle of the drivers.