41 Laps into the Hungarian GP and we have from Ferrari their weekly dose of making Charles Leclerc regret his decision to ever join the team. For Ferrari, Qualifying on Saturday was borderline between decent and bad. Carlos Sainz got knocked out in Q2, securing P11 but Leclerc made it to Q3 and secured P6. But like almost all other races this year, Ferrari’s strategy has left Leclerc fuming.
On Lap 41 of the race at the Hungaroring, Leclerc was in P7, and Carlos Sainz, in P6. The former was quicker but Ferrari ordered him to not overtake the Spaniard. This is the exact opposite of what happened at Silverstone when Sainz was in the position that Leclerc is in now. The decision didn’t help them at Silverstone and the decision now won’t help them in Budapest. Leclerc was absolutely livid with the team orders and he made his displeasure known.
📻 | Charles:
“Let’s offset ourselves in terms of strategy. Like this, it doesn’t make sense.”
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) July 23, 2023
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“Let’s offset ourselves in terms of strategy. Like this, it doesn’t make sense,” said Leclerc on the team radio. And his engineer, Xavier Marcos Padros aka Xavi replied in his classic vague tone “We are checking”. He said, “Copy understood, we are discussing it, and we’ll do it at the end.” The Monegasque sounded baffled by this reply. He retorted: “What do you mean at the end?”
And in classic Xavi style, he closed the conversation with “We are on it. We are on it. Okay?” Leclerc is definitely not okay. And his fans were quick to take to social media to bash Ferrari’s strategy yet again.
“Clowns are Back” – Fans Feel for Charles Leclerc While Trashing Ferrari for Another Classic Disaster
Charles Leclerc is probably the unluckiest driver on the grid. He is racing for the most successful team in F1 history but at the wrong point in time. On lap 18 of the Hungarian GP, Leclerc was called in for his 1st pit stop to switch to the Hards. But his bad luck followed him there as well. The pit stop took 9.4 seconds because of a gun failure for his rear left tire. The mechanic had to use the backup gun.
As if that snail-slow stop wasn’t enough, the team radio altercation happened. And Tifosi took no time to point out Leclerc’s frustration and Ferrari’s consistency in mismanagement. Let us look at what the fans had to say on Twitter:
he is done with ferrari Charles pls don't say sorry never again🙏
— charlesleclec16gr (@charlesleclec11) July 23, 2023
he’s about to unleash hell in the team meeting lmao GO CHARLIE GO https://t.co/aq21uX2qgD
— ☾ (@16cult) July 23, 2023
Has he grown a backbone finally https://t.co/gWMFHSkwdW
— grinch¹⁶✨ (@klizavisapun) July 23, 2023
Oh My GoD jUsT fIrE tHeM aLl.
Absolutely dire from the @ScuderiaFerrari pitwall… #Ferrari #HungarianGP https://t.co/ougJRYBcJn
— Dr. Katharine Fellows (@KatieFellows1) July 23, 2023
If Leclerc signs another Ferrari contract, he must forget about being a world champion.
At this rate, he won't get a street named after him at Maranello anyway https://t.co/Lvn6nwz30p— Wandile Mahlangu (@Wandile_M09) July 23, 2023
the ferrari drivers being the strategists of their team https://t.co/ggRwCG41s2
— vic ³ ⁵⁵ ¹⁶ (@ricciarg) July 23, 2023
Clowns are back 🙌🏽 https://t.co/7s3NlRqFae
— Shahzeb Malik (@shahzeb_malik04) July 23, 2023
🤡🤡🤡🤡 another massacre of a race
— Baby Honey (@LarryisReal_2y) July 23, 2023
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And here’s something that everyone can agree with, irrespective of the driver or team they support:
this man has the patience of a saint https://t.co/C6yGRWgXBZ
— rebecca | tillies 💚💛🇦🇺 (@drsloverr) July 23, 2023
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The kind of frustration that the Monegasque has to deal with every race weekend is unbelievable. If Ferrari‘s decision-making continues like this, he might want to cut his contract short and look for better opportunities in F1.
WATCH THIS STORY | Leclerc’s Hopeful Mission: Reviving Ferrari Despite Massive Gap!