Ferrari's power strategy in qualifying for the Formula 1 Imola Grand Prix cost the team a superior result in the race, according to Charles Leclerc.
The Italian squad had impressed in Friday practice but, in its preparations for qualifying, the team appeared to lack velocity at the start of the lap relative to the cars ahead of it in the battle for pole position.
GPS traces reveal that his Ferrari was between 3-4kph slower on the straights compared to the two McLarens, and even more in arrears compared to polesitter Max Verstappen - due to the assist the Red Bull driver picked up from Nico Hulkenberg.
Leclerc felt that Ferrari's ultimate grid positions, which became third and fourth when Oscar Piastri was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen in FP1, cost a chance at anything more than third.
"Looking back at yesterday, reanalysing qualifying. I believe we essentially lost everything at the launch [of the lap] for some reason," he said.
"We had a slightly different power strategy compared to McLaren and Red Bull, and we lost everything on the run down to Turn 2 - Max, on top of that, had the slipstream.
"This is something we'll have to look into because, particularly on a track like this, track position is unquestionably everything.
"When you only have a tenth in between Red Bull, McLaren, and ourselves, we need to do everything perfect and the third place today cost us maybe a better result in the race."
Explaining his first impressions of Ferrari's comprehensive suite of enhancements for the Imola race, Leclerc contended that it was difficult to evaluate them given the demands of the Imola circuit.
But he was confident that the team had attained its objectives with the new bodywork, floor, and wings that it had installed for its home race.
"I think first of all, it's not the best track to judge upgrades, mostly because kerb-riding is such a thing here that if you have a good car on kerbs, then that could hide a bit more what is the real order," the Monegasque said.
"The fortunate news is that everything we anticipated from those enhancements, we had it in terms of data. It did precisely what it was intended to do, which is always a positive thing."
The Italian squad had impressed in Friday practice but, in its preparations for qualifying, the team appeared to lack velocity at the start of the lap relative to the cars ahead of it in the battle for pole position.
GPS traces reveal that his Ferrari was between 3-4kph slower on the straights compared to the two McLarens, and even more in arrears compared to polesitter Max Verstappen - due to the assist the Red Bull driver picked up from Nico Hulkenberg.
Leclerc felt that Ferrari's ultimate grid positions, which became third and fourth when Oscar Piastri was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen in FP1, cost a chance at anything more than third.
Read Also: Mclaren Admits Malukas Injury 'More Serious Than We Thought'
"Looking back at yesterday, reanalysing qualifying. I believe we essentially lost everything at the launch [of the lap] for some reason," he said.
"We had a slightly different power strategy compared to McLaren and Red Bull, and we lost everything on the run down to Turn 2 - Max, on top of that, had the slipstream.
"This is something we'll have to look into because, particularly on a track like this, track position is unquestionably everything.
"When you only have a tenth in between Red Bull, McLaren, and ourselves, we need to do everything perfect and the third place today cost us maybe a better result in the race."
Explaining his first impressions of Ferrari's comprehensive suite of enhancements for the Imola race, Leclerc contended that it was difficult to evaluate them given the demands of the Imola circuit.
But he was confident that the team had attained its objectives with the new bodywork, floor, and wings that it had installed for its home race.
"I think first of all, it's not the best track to judge upgrades, mostly because kerb-riding is such a thing here that if you have a good car on kerbs, then that could hide a bit more what is the real order," the Monegasque said.
"The fortunate news is that everything we anticipated from those enhancements, we had it in terms of data. It did precisely what it was intended to do, which is always a positive thing."
