Leclerc calls on Ferrari to address sluggish pit stops

Charles Leclerc has urged Ferrari to look into its pit stop execution in the wake of the sluggish tyre changes he experienced in Hungary and in Saturday's sprint event at Spa.

At the Hungaroring a week ago, a faulty wheel gun led to a 10-second tyre swap that heavily weighed on Leclerc's race.

At Spa, the Monegasque was among the group of drivers that waited an extra lap after the rolling start to discard their full wets for the Intermediate tyre, a move that saved Ferrari from double stacking its drivers.

"[I] definitely would have preferred, in an ideal world, to come in straight away, but I think we did the right choice," Leclerc said.

"We would have lost too much time pitting behind Carlos, so I had no choice. It wasn’t ideal but it’s the way it is."

• 2023 Belgian Grand Prix - Sprint Race results

But when Leclerc came in to receive his set of Inters, the swap lasted a lengthy five seconds. The Scuderia remined his team that if Ferrari's pace isn't good enough out on the track then its execution needs to be flawless in the pitlane.

"What hurt us is the slow pitstop, this we need to look into because it’s been two races where we’re struggling a bit more with the pitstops," he said.

"As I said many times, when we’re not fast enough we need to maximise all our points and today we didn’t.

"Today, yes, we’re only speaking about one or two points but it’s still one or two points and we need to make sure we maximise everything."

On Friday, Leclerc qualified second for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix but he'll start the race from pole thanks to a five-spot grid penalty handed to Max Verstappen following Red Bull's decision to replace the gearbox on the Dutchman's car.

Leclerc emphasized the need for Ferrari to maximize its opportunity on Sunday.

"It’s important, every race is important," he said.

"Yeah, considering we’ve had a strong weekend in terms of pace compared to others, I think it’s important that we maximise the race tomorrow and that we show solid pace, solid strategy and without many mistakes."

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