Charles Leclerc conceded he was “not happy” at the outcome of Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix, but declined to criticise Ferrari over his strategy.
Leclerc was the sole Ferrari/Mercedes driver to adopt a two-stop strategy at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, as teams were caught by surprise at the life of the Hard tyre.
Leclerc preserved his pole position advantage and led the first stint of the race, but his two-stop strategy relegated him to fourth, as Lewis Hamilton claimed victory.
“Well I am disappointed, of course, every time you start first you always want to win and the two last times I started first I didn’t win so I’m not happy with that,” he said.
“I think it’s pretty clear why [we lost] and we will learn from this.
“To be completely honest we wanted to cover from [Alexander] Albon, which we did, and then from then on I think it was very difficult to do better.
“With the two-stop [strategy] it was very difficult to stay behind the cars and to overtake at the end even with a very good pit stop.”
Leclerc nonetheless conceded that he could have provided Ferrari with greater guidance during the race.
“It’s a shame but if there is something I can learn it is to try to help the team more with my feedback from inside the car, so that we can make the best call together,” he concluded.
