Annoyed Leclerc settles for 'lonely' fourth in Japan

Charles Leclerc says he endured a lonely and somewhat “annoying” run to fourth place in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix – a result that he admitted was the best Ferrari could hope for, given the current limitations of the SF-25.

The Monegasque was able to remain close to the McLarens and to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen early on before gradually losing ground and finishing 16 seconds behind the latter and race winner.

While pleased with his execution, Leclerc was clear-eyed about Ferrari’s position in F1’s current pecking order.

“It was a bit of an annoying race, I was completely on my own,” Leclerc told the media. “The guys in front were too quick.

“In the first stint I thought maybe there was something to do, but then they started to push more and they were just faster.”

His early optimism faded as the fuel loads lightened, exposing Ferrari’s deficit.

“It’s disappointing because when you put everything together like we’ve done this weekend, I think the balance was in the right place, there’s just not enough performance in the car,” he said.

Pinpointing the Weak Spots

When asked where McLaren held an edge, Leclerc reckoned that team papaya’s MCL39 held an advantage across the entire lap at Suzuka.

“A bit everywhere. Maybe if anything the first sector was a little bit weaker,” he said. “but that’s only by eye which can be a little bit confusing sometimes in the car.

“Because with the speed you have this yo-yo effect as well that is difficult to take everything out of it, because they were still quite far, like two seconds ahead. But my feeling was that we weren’t particularly good in the first sector.”

This gap left him isolated in fourth position, unable to threaten the top three.

Lessons Amid Disappointment

Despite the result, Leclerc found silver linings in a new, “extreme” setup direction he’d pursued since early in the season.

“I think I learned plenty about the car this weekend, so that is the positive of the weekend really,” he elaborated.

“As much as we are disappointed with the fourth place, we should be happy of us maximising the result and we should be happy about all the lessons learned this weekend.

“As I said, Friday I think was a really, really good day for that. I really went in quite extreme directions in an idea that I’ve had since two or three weeks. I wanted to try it and it worked out, so I was really happy with that.”

Outpacing teammate Lewis Hamilton, he felt more at ease with his SF-25 in Japan, though he remained grounded.

“Yeah, but again it doesn’t really make me happy, that’s really not the target, but, at least as I said, we’ve maximised the result.”
The eight-time Grand Prix winner tempered expectations for a quick turnaround, pointing to his car’s current limits.

“For now, we’ve just got to maximise the points, which is what we have done, and I hope that later on in the season we can fight for better,” he said.

‘“I think this is the pace. Honestly, what we’ve shown is that there’s not much more in the car, so I think that’s where we are.”

With updates still in the pipeline, Ferrari’s short-term prospects remain stagnant, leaving Leclerc to bide his time until the car can match its rivals’ speed.

Read also: Leclerc feeling ‘a lot more at ease’ with Ferrari car at Suzuka

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