Charles Leclerc has stated his disqualification from the United States Grand Prix came as “a big surprise”, particularly after visual checks on his Ferrari throughout the course of the weekend showed no sign of the drama that unfolded.
Leclerc, who had crossed the line in sixth position at the chequered flag of the race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, was eventually thrown out along with runner-up Lewis Hamilton.
FIA scrutineers found both the SF23 and the Mercedes to have breached the technical regulations regarding rear skid pad wear.
The claim is the sprint weekend format, with cars locked down in parc fermé after Friday qualifying for the grand prix, and with no technical changes allowed, allied to an exceptionally bumpy Circuit of the Americas, were the contributory factors.
Leclerc was left non-plussed when informed of the disqualification, learning of the infringement whilst still at the circuit.
“It was a complete surprise because on Friday when we could change the car (for service-related items only), there was zero wear,” said Leclerc, ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix. “So it’s not like we were touching anywhere.
“Then you get to the race, and obviously things have changed, but we were illegal. Rules are rules, and they need to be respected, whatever.
“So it’s not an excuse to say that Friday we were fine, and we need to look into it to try and better anticipate what is going to be the wear on Sunday.”
The suspicion is the addition of 100 kilograms of fuel for the race played its part, in tandem with the ride height of the Ferrari, even though there had been no cause for concern.
Suggesting other mitigating factors, Leclerc added: “There are so many more things, there’s also kerb riding. In the end, yes, we should have anticipated better, and we will look into it for the future.”
Asked by Speedcafe for his reaction when informed of his disqualification, Leclerc replied: “I was surprised because on Saturday night we could more or less see where we were touching, and we thought there was still plenty of margin.
“Then we finished on Sunday and it was a big surprise.
“Right now, we are still in the analysis part of where exactly did we wear the plank more than we expected because it wasn’t expected.
“It’s the kind of thing that you need to accept, that there’s nothing to fight for with those things.”
Ahead of the race at the Circuito Hermanos Rodriguez, Leclerc is at least anticipating Ferrari to fare better at the venue than was the case a year ago.
By that stage, Leclerc’s title hopes, after a buoyant start to the campaign, had long since evaporated, with the performance of his car in Mexico rubbing salt into his wounds.
The Ferraris struggled considerably with cooling issues given the high altitude of the venue, forcing the team to turn the engine down in order to complete the race. Sainz and Leclerc finished fifth and sixth respectively, 58 and 68 seconds adrift of race-winner Max Verstappen.
Leclerc is not anticipating a similar problem on this occasion
“Last year was a very, very difficult race for us here,” recalled Leclerc. “We had quite a lot of problems with our package, with the power units especially, but we do not expect to have the same issues this year.
“I hope it will be a step forward. We have a very different package this year, and it should be better than last year.”
As to the cooling element this weekend, Leclerc is still expecting “management” for the race, adding: “Whenever you are in traffic…hopefully we won’t have any, and we’ll be starting on pole. Obviously, that is quite unlikely.
“But in traffic, for sure, there will be quite a bit of management, as is always the case here.
“So the race is going to be tricky but I feel we are much better prepared compared to last year.”
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