Charles Leclerc after dreary Spa weekend: “We can’t go on like this”

One year after he won his first Grand Prix on the very same track, Charles Leclerc’s return to Spa-Francorchamps ended in a disappointing 14th place. The race was unsurprisingly dominated by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) who achieved his fourth win of the season, with teammate Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) in second place.

Ferrari and Charles Leclerc will want to put last weekend behind them. There was little to be done on Sunday for the Monegasque driver, who admitted he was sad that “Ferrari had fallen so low”. While Leclerc did manage an impressive start, reaching the top 10 after a qualifying that landed him in in 13th place, as the raced progressed, things started to deteriorate. The SF1000 he was driving was simply unable to keep up with the speed of his fellow drivers and things went from bad to worse when Leclerc fell to the very bottom of the ranking after his second (and very slow) pit stop. Leclerc did manage to regain some places, finishing in 14th position,  while teammate Sebastian Vettel took the flag in 13th.

Leclerc now aims for 5th place in the Championship

Spa has been the theatre of both Leclerc’s most memorable and worst performances. Last year, the Monegasque driver won his first Grand Prix on the very track that this year saw him score no points for the second time in the season. We can only hope that the Monza GP will turn things around, even if there will be no Italian fans to cheer Ferrari on. Due to the Pandemic, stands will all be empty. At the moment, Leclerc aims to finish 5th in the Championship.

“I’m not happy with how things are. It’s really unpleasant,” he told French channel Canal+. “I don’t know what to say after such a performance. We need to figure out how to fight back. We can’t go on like this. Unfortunately, I think it will be the same in Monza, if not worse. But I hope that starting from Mugello things will brighten up. It’s also my job now to motivate the crew because everybody’s working hard but we keep underperforming. It’s difficult for all of us,” he admitted.