Charles Leclerc disgruntled as red flags unravel Ferrari "gamble"

Leclerc, Sainz, Imola, Ferrari — Photo: © LAT Images

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

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Leclerc disgruntled as red flags unravel Ferrari "gamble"

Leclerc was left frustrated despite finishing fourth at Imola

Ewan Gale

Monday 19 April 2021 10:50

Charles Leclerc was left frustrated by the red-flag period that thwarted Ferrari's set-up gamble at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix despite finishing fourth.

The Monégasque driver shook off a spin on the formation lap to drive an impressive race and finish just shy of the podium in a Ferrari four-five, a result that has proven the Scuderia's advances across the off-season in retaliation to last year's woes.

Leclerc was comfortably in a podium position ahead of the red flags, caused by a nasty incident between George Russell and Valtteri Bottas, after pulling clear in third place during the wet first half of the race.

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Despite the positive of finishing with two cars in the top five, Leclerc revealed a gamble pre-qualifying on Saturday was unravelled by the mid-race stoppage.

"It was a great race but I am a bit frustrated," said Leclerc. "Seeing the beginning of the race, not speaking about the formation lap, after that, it was a great beginning of the race, we were in a good position and very strong in terms of pace.

"Obviously, with the red flag, it was a bit difficult because we started to be very vulnerable in the straights.

"We took a bit of a gamble with the downforce in case it was raining and it was the case, but with the red flag we struggled with the cars behind."

Team-mate Carlos Sainz also had his fair share of tribulations in the changing conditions at Imola, taking to the gravel on multiple occasions before regrouping to finish fifth.

"All things considered, I think P5 is a great result for me taking into account I was starting 11th, the first time in the wet with this car so I had a lot of things to discover," said Sainz.

"But I decided to take some risks. I said in Bahrain I would take it easy but here I said I would go for it. I made a few places, I think I went up to seventh or eighth but I struggled to find my feet after that.

"I was trying different brake balances for each corner to find the right feeling in the brake pedal in the car and I missed a couple of corners that cost me quite a lot of race time.

"But I was nevertheless so quick out there that I could recover it so I was making mistakes but at the same time pushing and getting that time back."