Charles Leclerc could not find many positives from a “tricky” first race of the season in Australia that saw him trail home in eighth place behind a slew of midfield runners, with his Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton down in P10.
There were question marks over Ferrari’s form after pre-season testing, but the opening day of track action in Melbourne saw Leclerc in particular impress, giving rise to the hope that the Scuderia might even be able to challenge McLaren up front.
But their form disappeared on Saturday, leading to lower than hoped for grid slots. However, a quick start from Leclerc saw him jump up to fifth – a position he held for much of the afternoon until the late rain came.
“For a big part of the race we thought P5 was secured and then the rain arrived and everything changed,” said Leclerc.
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«It was a tough race and there are things we have to review and work on. We weren’t the fastest out there but in such weather conditions, there was a chance of scoring some big points which we didn’t capitalise on today.
«I lost a few positions after the spin at Turn 11. In the end, it wasn’t that bad, with the Safety Car that came out later on, but then we stopped a lap too late to switch to inters, losing positions again.
«There are two things we have to look into. The first is easy, it was my mistake. The second is something we will sort out as a team, looking into our decisions and making sure we make the right call if the situation comes up again.»
Leclerc spun on the greasy track as the rain began to fall, which released his team mate Hamilton. The duo actually ended up right at the front of the field after opting to stay out for an extra lap on the slicks once the majority pitted for intermediate tyres in the increasingly wet conditions – but it proved to be the wrong call, and by the time they pitted both Ferraris were down at the back of the top 10.
The timing of Ferrari’s second pit stops proved costly, as Leclerc dropped down the order
The Monegasque did at least overtake Hamilton on track and managed to climb to eighth at the flag, but it is a far cry from both what was possible – and what was expected.
“It has been a tricky day overall, but we will look into it,» Leclerc added. «It is only the first race of the season, yes it is not the first race we would have hoped for but looking forward we need to re-motivate ourselves for Shanghai and recover from what was a disappointing first weekend.
“If you look at the pace of the McLaren it was unbelievable, even more strong than yesterday for example. So, we have to look into it, but we are on the back foot. But it is only race one out of 24, there are many other races, so we need to stay calm and keep working in the right direction.”
‘We are on the back-foot’ admits Leclerc after ‘disappointing’ result in Melbourne