Ferrari apologizes to Leclerc after Monaco penalty

He could have claimed his first podium on his native land, in Monaco. SATURDAY, Charles Leclerc had done enough to place his Ferrari in 3rd place in qualifying, ensuring a good chance of a podium at home. Unfortunately for the Monegasque driver, the FIA ​​penalized him with three penalty places the same evening, for having blocked Lando Norris in its launched turn, at the level of the Tunnel.

If the embarrassment was involuntary on the part of Charles Leclerc, it resulted from poor communication between the driver and his team, who did not warn the Monegasque in time of the imminent arrival of the McLaren. Result: starting sixth on the grid, Charles Leclerc found himself stuck throughout the race and was unable to gain any position at the finish.

At the finish of the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, Frédéric Vasseur took the floor to publicly apologize to his protégé at Ferrari, after the imbroglio of the day before. “He has been a little frustrated in Monaco for a few years now and it is certain that yesterday was difficult, declared the French director of the Scuderia. It was difficult to first lose pole position by a tenth, then lose the front row by two hundredths, and then the [radio] message. I can only apologize on behalf of the team and seek to understand how we can do a better job and improve the communication between the pit wall and Charles in these conditions. »

Ferrari “must learn from this”

According to Frédéric Vasseur, this poor communication is notably due to the characteristics of the Riviera route. Passing under the tunnel deprived the team and Charles Leclerc of good visibility behind him. But according to the boss of the Scuderia, Ferrari must “avoid making excuses” after this error with serious consequences. “We clearly made a mistake yesterday and it cost us dearly, because I think starting from third place we could have had another race, concedes the former boss ofAlfa Romeo Sauber. We must learn lessons (…) and completely review the situation [Monday]. I didn't want to do it [Saturday] night because we focused on the race. »

The main person concerned was unable to make up for his team's mistake on Sunday during the race, and had to settle for an obviously frustrating and disappointing 6th place. “After [qualifying] and the three-place grid penalty, there wasn't much to do starting sixth, recognizes Charles Leclerc. The pace wasn't very good today. It wasn't too bad with the slick tires, but there's nothing to do here. It was basically a waiting game and when we started to attack the tires had lost a bit of their effectiveness. »

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