"It's something we do as drivers": Charles Leclerc addresses Fernando Alonso's controversial incident in Melbourne

Charles Leclerc believes that Fernando Alonso’s move in the Australian GP was a common defense tactic used by most of the grid. However, the Ferrari driver felt that the Spanish driver’s move was extreme and deserved a penalty.

Alonso’s defensive driving tactic is a manoeuver used by many on the grid but the incident in Australia led to George Russell crashing out of the race. With various drivers having contrasting opinions on the manoeuver, the audience in general was polarised in their opinion on the penalty.

Leclerc felt the penalty was needed but believed time penalties in general can be a matter of fortune. He felt that the penalty significantly impacted the result in a race where the grid was bunched up. Whereas in a race with a gap, a driver wouldn't lose much despite the time penalty. After the incident, it is clear that it will be a matter of discussion at the drivers briefing in Japan.

Asked for his views on the penalty itself in Alonso’s case, Leclerc spoke to onsite media saying:

“My view is that it's something we do as drivers. However not to that extent, towards what Fernando did in Australia. It had to be penalized. However, I believe that there's something that we need to look into in terms of the penalty that we are giving. We've been working with time penalties for a long time two laps to go, which could have been the case in that scenario, then you go from fifth to last. If you are in a position like Fernando was, you only lose two places.”

“So, I think that there's something to look into and especially for the future to try and improve. I always thought that I think positions of penalty is more fair because whatever the race situation you are penalised like you are intended to be penalised. However, with time penalty, they can be inconsistencies like depending on race situation.”

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Charles Leclerc highlights areas to improvise to beat Red Bull

Charles Leclerc reckons improving the predictability of the SF24 could be key to beating Red Bull. He suggested that the overall package needed to be quicker, particularly in qualifying at circuits that involved high tire degradation. Despite the car not having too many weaknesses, the Ferrari driver felt there were always areas that needed improving. Compared to 2023, the SF24 has been closer to the RB20 than its predecessor which lacked performance and was inconsistent.

Asked if there were any areas on the SF24 that needed improvement or if it had any weaknesses at all, Leclerc said:

“There are always weaknesses on things to improve for sure. So it's very clear for us where we need to improve. I think just the overall package needs to be faster and that's eventually the goal for everybody. Especially in the race, which is the predictability of the car, especially when you use the tyres. Because when you use the tyres normally the weaknesses of the car comes out bigger.”

“So in qualifying when the tyres are new, we are pretty close to Red Bull. In some of the tracks, especially in high degradation tracks, we struggled a bit more once the tires are used. Still a bit more on the predictability, and then I hope we can do the step required in order to beat Red Bull.”

Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have downplayed Ferrari’s performance at the Australian GP. Both drivers have suggested that their gap to Red Bull and the key to beating them depended on the upgrades and the development race throughout the season. Currently, Ferrari are only four points behind Red Bull in the constructors championship, and the Monegasque trails Max Verstappen by the same margin. However, the Milton Keynes team are expected to return to their winning ways in Japan. The Suzuka circuit is expected to be the first circuit on the calendar which can be a proper outlier for the pecking order on the grid.