Charles Leclerc has endured a tough spell of races since his victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, having recently failed to score points at Silverstone.
The British GP was another race affected by wet weather. Leclerc was left trundling at the back of the grid following a strategic mistake in switching to the Intermediate tyres too early, while teammate Carlos Sainz got the call spot on enabling him to finish fifth while Leclerc was a lap down in 14th place.
It was the latest in a series of costly errors for Leclerc, following his mistake during the Canadian GP which left him out on track as the rain came on slick tyres while everyone else stayed on wets.
Damon Hill thinks it is a ‘mystery’ why Leclerc continues to struggle when discussing his form on the F1 Nation Podcast, considering Sainz is the one set to leave the team at the end of the season.
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Damon Hill points out ‘mystery’ in Charles Leclerc mistakes
Leclerc recently switched engineers from Xavier Marcos Padros to Bryan Bozzi, but it has not been without teething problems.
At Silverstone, the information both Ferrari drivers received about the impending rain was very different, with Sainz receiving constant updates while Leclerc’s information was less frequent.
Eddie Jordan has previously said he ‘does not understand’ what has happened to Leclerc since Monaco, while Hill pointed to Leclerc’s strategy team as one of the main reasons why the Monagasque has suffered a dip in form.
“It’s a mystery to me because Carlos seems to come out of the situations and making more of what he has than Charles does. Yet Charles is the guy staying. I don’t understand what is going on in Ferrari,” said Hill.
“He is not getting good support from the team on strategy. It seems a bit muddled and I don’t quite understand why that should be. Whereas Carlos seems to take command of the situation and says ‘Well I’m doing this’ and maybe that’s giving the strategy people confidence, which they don’t have with Charles.”
Carlos Sainz catches up to Charles Leclerc
It is worth considering that out of the 12 races completed so far, Sainz has done one less race than Leclerc because he missed Saudi Arabia with appendicitis earlier this year.
Both drivers have won races this year, with Sainz bouncing back from his surgery to take an opportunistic win at the Australian GP, and both have finished on the podium five times apiece.
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Sainz’s consistency means he is now four points behind Leclerc after two races outside of the points for the Monagasque, meaning he could face finishing behind at the end of the season.
The Spanish driver has yet to make his mind up about where he will go as he makes way for Lewis Hamilton at the end of the season, but it is likely to be out of two options at either Williams or Alpine after he reportedly ‘cancelled’ talks with Sauber.
The post ‘It’s a mystery’: Damon Hill highlights what Carlos Sainz is doing better than Charles Leclerc at Ferrari appeared first on F1 Oversteer.