“It hurts even more at home” – Leclerc

Listening Charles Leclerc At the end of qualifying for the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, we say to ourselves that we could have taken his reaction from Spa-Francorchamps and made a copy and paste. The Monegasque was again satisfied with his fastest lap but the lack of performance of his car 2020 has deprived again Ferrari of a place in Q3. And condemned Leclerc to a disappointing 13th time.

For the first time since 1984, the Scuderia does not place any driver in the Top 10 on the grid of its national Grand Prix. That year, Michele Alboreto started from 11th place, three rows ahead of his teammate Rene Arnoux.

« We expected to experience another difficult session, confided Leclerc, who had won with panache from pole position at the heart of the Temple of Speed ​​12 months earlier. The Spa and Monza tracks are probably the most punishing for us, with another circuit coming later in the season (probably Bahrain's outdoor and ultra-short track).

It hurts even more when we play at home but that is the current situation, unfortunately. I hope we will be more competitive at Mugello, which is another home event ». 

At the end of his final attempt in Q2, Leclerc whispered on the radio that he could not have done better. He was 2 tenths short of securing a place in the Top 10.

“When you have a good lap and only finish 13th, it's not a good feeling,” he added with vocabulary very similar to that used in Belgium. I still have to focus on getting the most out of the car. 

I hope we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the next race. We are going through 2 very complicated weekends. We are trying a lot of things on the car but we haven't found a solution yet. We have to keep our heads on the handlebars and stay motivated ». 

His garage neighbor Sebastian Vettel left the qualifying session even earlier, the German being eliminated in Q1 with a 17th time unworthy of his status as quadruple world champion. 

Vettel, who is clearly not comfortable behind the wheel, further complained about the behavior of the drivers Alfa Romeo. He believes that they did not respect etiquette by overtaking during the launch laps before the last timed attempts. 

« There was no point in starting to overtake each other in all directions, railed the German, who went to follow the rest of the session from inside the Parabolica. You have to respect a minimum lap time so everyone should be able to cross the line in time. If you start to overtake, it's a mess ». 

36 years ago, Alboreto climbed to 2nd position in the Italian Grand Prix. Given the competitiveness displayed by the SF1000 this weekend, we doubt that such a scenario could be repeated. To the great dismay of fans.