F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Leclerc: Ferrari 'struggling massively' for race pace

Charles Leclerc says Ferrari's "radical approach" to its downforce issues has elevated its car's single-lap performance at Silverstone but left it trailing its rivals in race trim.

Leclerc ended FP2 fourth, just 0.296s short of the fastest lap set by pace-setter Lance Stroll, but the Monegasque says the performance failed to reflect the significant balance issues of the Scuderia's SF1000 on long runs.

"The race pace we have been struggling massively, so we definitely need to work on that," said Leclerc at the end of a hot day. "The quali pace is a bit better than what we expected to be honest. This is good.

"We’ve taken quite a radical approach with our downforce level, so it seems to pay off in quali, but it doesn’t in the race, so we need to analyse the data, and see what we’ll have to do tomorrow.

"We can still change quite a lot of things, so we’ll try to understand what we can change to maybe sacrifice a bit more the quali pace to be better in the race."

©Ferrari

Leclerc stressed the importance of getting on top of the SF1000's balance issues on long runs to avoid a complicated afternoon come Sunday.

"The balance was extremely hard to drive and very, very difficult not to do a mistake," he added.

"We definitely need to change something on that. Otherwise doing that many laps during the race with this balance will be a huge challenge."

Sebastian Vettel suffered a set-back at the outset of FP1 when Ferrari uncovered an intercooler issue on the German's car that required a lengthy repair job.

Vettel tried to play catch-up in the afternoon but a brake pedal problem put paid to that plan.

"It was a disrupted day," said the four-time world champion. "We had an issue with the brake pedal and we had to stop and fix that, so a bit difficult to get into a rhythm.

"I think overall, still little bits to learn from and take away for tomorrow. I think we need to improve the car. We’ll see where we are tomorrow."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.

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