Charles Leclerc was dealt a bitter blow in Brazil when his car failed on the formation lap of the Sao Paulo GP, but the Ferrari charger says he needs to regroup and “move on”.
Leclerc had high expectations for a race for which he had qualified on the front row alongside poleman Max Verstappen.
The Monegasque had reached Turn 6 when an electronics issue shut down his car’s engine and its hydraulics, which instantly veered him off course and into the outside barrier.
Thumping his steering wheel, Leclerc’s body language was self-explanatory. On the radio, he vented his frustration to his team bemoaning his misfortune.
“Why the f*** am I so unlucky,” he repeatedly said.
He made a vain attempt to get going again as the SF-23’s hydraulics briefly came back online. It was but a short respite however as the engine shut down once again, leaving him to park his car out of harm’s way.
“Maybe it's part of the moment, also I was very frustrated,” he said, justifying his disheartening words to his team in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
“I'm annoyed because obviously, especially in the second part of the year I finally found the confidence with the car, and then you start second, you sacrifice a whole weekend for Sunday's race, you do six corners, and that's it.
“So, I'm very frustrated for now but now I need to move on and obviously focus on the last two races, that's the best thing I can do as a driver.
“But it's of course frustrating to lose so many opportunities throughout the season. I just hope that after this race we can anyway still be in the fight for the second in the constructors' [championship].
“That is my only motivation for the rest of the year, because then whatever else is left is not something that is super exciting."
“I'd rather have a lot of problems in a season where I'm fighting for these positions, than in a season where I'm fighting for the championship.
“Having said that, I would rather not have these types of issues at all."
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur was equally disappointed with the setback, particularly as Ferrari had worked hard and had focused all its preparations on Sunday’s race.
The Frenchman reckoned that a podium would have been on the cards for Leclerc in normal circumstances.
“For sure, it is very frustrating for Charles and for the team that also, strategically, another weekend we put all our effort on the long run to save tyres, so we had new tyres,” Vasseur explained.
“We didn’t put new tyres on for the short one, we put everything on the long one, and we didn’t take the start.
“For sure, it’s frustrating. He was more than disappointed, but I am sure that he will be back, and we will be focussed on Vegas.”
Vasseur said that Ferrari will investigate the issue that befell the Leclerc, before setting off for next week’s round in Las vegas.
“Now, we have to stay calm to understand what has happened to avoid any issues in the future,” he said.
“I think the pace over the weekend was not that bad. We were in a good position today, and it is a missed opportunity because we were catching up with Mercedes a little bit over the weekend but with Charles on the front row with two sets of tyres, it could have been much better.
“We have still two attempts with Vegas and Abu Dhabi. Vegas could be a chaotic one and if we have the same pace as this weekend and Mercedes the same pace as this weekend, we have an opportunity.”
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