Charles Leclerc admits to "judgment error" but raises questions about McLaren undercut – F1 Baku GP

09/15/2024 12:42 PM

For Charles Leclerc, it's yet another pole not capitalized in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit. The Monegasque driver analyzed his race, admitting a “judgment error” and focusing his curiosity on the “mystery” of McLaren's undercut.

Piastri's overtake is a masterpiece: the braking is powerful and earns him the lead of the Grand Prix. Could Leclerc have defended with more intensity? The Monegasque discussed his race on Sky.

Oscar Piastri's overtake secures victory: Charles Leclerc's analysis in Baku

“It was a wrong choice,” admitted the Ferrari driver. “I saw him moving, I didn't know if he was going in, but I wasn't too worried. I knew the DRS was very strong, and I was still in the phase where I needed to bring the tires up to temperature.” – the Ferrari driver added.

At this point, the #16 couldn't take any desperate moves with tires still cold. “I couldn't afford to stress the brakes too much like he did. I chose to stay on the right line and then pick up the DRS again. I thought it would be easier to overtake him later. But it went differently. He went like lightning, even when I had the DRS. I tried to stay as close as possible ahead of the last corner, but I was never close enough.” – he pointed out.

“It was a judgment error. I don't know what I could have done to prepare better for this, given that McLaren was able to push the kinetic part more efficiently on the straight.”

Oscar Piastri's undercut: Charles Leclerc wants answers

The real discussion for Charles Leclerc isn't about Ferrari's defense. Charles focuses more on the undercut he suffered from Piastri, who pitted a lap earlier than the Monegasque. “Something doesn't add up: it's the gap before the stop and after the pit-stop. We expected a lot of warm-up with the hard tires. Instead, from a gap of 6 seconds before the stop, I found Piastri glued to me after the tire change. We need to analyze that situation. That's probably where we made the real mistake.”

“I hadn't done a long run until the race. With the medium tires, I always had support in the slow sections. With the hard tires, I didn't, and I probably should have had a slightly different setup.” – Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc concluded at the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Source: f1ingenerale

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