The weekend of the Imola Grand Prix was bittersweet for Ferrari and even more bittersweet for Charles Leclerc. While his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, finished the race fourth, the younger driver, despite being much quicker throughout the race, crossed the finish line sixth. The worst part for him was that it was through no fault of his own. Leclerc did anything he could to add some points to his tally, and yet it simply wasn’t enough.
The two Ferraris barely made it out of Q1. Throughout the first session, Leclerc hovered around P10, unable to progress to the front of the field. The tricky SF-24 simply wasn’t quick enough to keep up with the other frontrunners. It quickly became clear that neither he nor Hamilton would play any part in the fight for pole.
What very few expected was that it wouldn’t be good enough to make it into the top 10. Although Leclerc pushed the car to its limits and did improve on his second attempt in Q2, it was all for nothing. He watched as his name tumbled down the order, only to be officially knocked into the elimination zone by the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.
As Leclerc’s car was lifted back into the garage, he could be seen tearing up in frustration. In a later interview, he said that he had no words for his team’s terrible performance. He admitted that the early exit hurt even more, as it occurred at Imola, Ferrari’s home circuit.
When the time came for the Grand Prix, Leclerc was determined to turn the weekend around. In the first few laps, he found a way past both Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly. This moved him from P11 to P9.
It seemed like Leclerc’s progress would be completely undone when, on lap 11, Ferrari called him in for a very early pit stop. Despite the crew’s lightning-fast work, he rejoined the race in P17. The questionable decision turned out to be a stroke of genius when, throughout the next few laps, many of his immediate competitors also opted for a tire change. In the end, the stop put him in a net P4, ahead of drivers such as Russell, Sainz, and Alonso.
Just as it seemed like redemption was in the cards for Ferrari’s Golden Boy, the tide shifted. Esteban Ocon’s was forced to reitre on lap 29. His Haas stopped on the side of the track, and a virtual safety car was called in for the couple of laps it took to remove it. This was great news for anyone who has not changed their tires yet, and a hard blow for those who had already visited the pitlane.
Ferrari jumped at the opportunity to pit both their drivers. After the pit, Hamilton moved up to P7, while Leclerc fell to P10, which all but undid the great work he had done over the first few laps.
Despite the loss of position, Leclerc got right back into making the Tifosi proud. He steadily moved forward, overtaking both Aston Martins, the RB of Hadjar, and the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli. With that, he found himself side by side with his Ferrari teammate.
The second curveball in his race came when Antonelli stopped not far away from where Ocon had retired earlier on. This time, a full safety car was called onto the track. Leclerc immediately turned on his radio and asked Ferrari to let him change his tires. After a quick conversation, the team did agree. They did not however let him know that Hamilton was pitting as soon as he could. Since waiting behind his teammate would have cost him a lot of time, Leclerc ended up staying out. After the dust of the pits settled he was 4th, but on much older tires than Alex Albon, who was right behind him.
As soon as racing was resumed, Leclerc did everything he could to keep the Williams behind. Their fight ended when, on lap 60, Albon attempted an overtake into the first corner. He went off track, with many believing that Leclerc had not left him enough space. This cost William’s driver a few precious seconds and allowed Lewis Hamilton to move past him.
The two Ferraris were side by side once more. Hamilton’s much fresher tires allowed him to easily take P4 from his teammate. With Ferrari worried that the move that put Albon on the grass would be grounds for a penalty, Leclerc was instructed to let him through before the end of the race.
While starting 11th and finishing 6th is impressive, the race could have been so much more if it weren’t for Leclerc’s terrible luck. He did everything he could to maximise his points score, only to continuously draw the short straw. Without the poorly-timed safety cars, he was on track to finish 4th, or maybe even fight for the podium. But, as all Ferrari fans know, if something bad can happen to Leclerc, it probably will.
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