Ferrari's Clear: 'Unfair' to label Leclerc just a qualifying specialist
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Ferrari senior performance engineer Jock Clear has pushed back against claims that Charles Leclerc is a stronger qualifier than racer, calling such assessments "unfair."
Leclerc has long been lauded for his prowess in qualifying. His ability to extract the absolute best out of a car on a single lap is undeniable, evidenced by his impressive 26 pole positions in Formula 1.
However, whispers have followed him, suggesting a relative weakness on race day compared to his qualifying brilliance.
With only seven wins in seven seasons, critics have questioned Monegasque's ability to consistently convert his strong qualifying performances into victories on Sunday – a key trait for any driver hoping to become a Formula 1 champion.
But Clear contends that the Monegasque has always been a complete package, and any perception that his race performances fall short of his qualifying prowess is a misjudgment.
"We all know what he's capable of, we've seen that over a few years now," Clear argued, speaking on the F1 Nation podcast.
"His reputation in qualifying has certainly been cemented over those years, in so much as people tended to say to me two years ago, three years ago 'yeah, but he's nowhere near as good in the race as he is in qualifying'.
"And you think, well, that's not really fair, it's just that he's very, very good at qualifying."
Leclerc's perceived struggle to convert poles into wins has often been blamed on his race-day performances, but Clear argued that this view ignores other factors at play, such as the competitiveness of the Ferrari car and strategy decisions that haven't always benefitted the Monegasque.
In particular, the Scuderia's car concept in recent years has often favored qualifying speed over race pace, leaving Leclerc with fewer opportunities to capitalize on his strong starting positions.
This season, however, the Italian outfit has shifted its focus to making the car more competitive in race conditions, a change that has allowed Leclerc to show his true potential as a racer.
©Ferrari
A prime example of this came at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, where Leclerc delivered a stunning one-stop strategy to defeat the faster McLaren cars from fourth on the grid. The performance was a clear statement of Leclerc's race craft, according to Clear.
"This year you have seen the result, really, of a development on the car side and a development on the driver side, that you recognise that there's no points on Saturday and all the points come on Sunday," he explained.
"Therefore I think it's probably true that we've shifted our focus slightly to making the car a better race car."
A critical factor in this improvement has been Ferrari's increased attention to tyre management, a challenge that has historically plagued the team.
Clear emphasized that Leclerc has always had the skill to manage tyres effectively but that the car's previous design hadn't always enabled him to demonstrate that ability.
©Ferrari
"Tyre management is of course always a hot topic. But we've seen Charles do some very good races," the Briton added.
"I remember back in '22 in Austria, where Max [Verstappen] really struggled with tyre degradation and Charles won that race with a really good drive.
"It's not that Charles historically hasn't been good on tyres, I think that it's we as a combination haven't been focussed that well on tyres."
Ferrari's renewed focus on race performance, combined with Leclerc's ability to learn and adapt, has resulted in stronger race results this season. According to Clear, Leclerc's improvement in race management is a product of both Ferrari's evolution and the driver's own growth.
"And so I think what we've seen this year is the result of us being more focussed on getting the car working really well in the race and looking after those tyres and Charles learning from previous years and honing those skills of tyre management, but also race management," he concluded.
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