Incredible Ferrari photo shows Leclerc has no chance of challenging Verstappen

Ferrari were so unprepared for Charles Leclerc’s first-lap pit stop at the Dutch Grand Prix that they did not have any tyres ready for their star driver, fresh images show. The photos maybe highlight how far Leclerc is from challenging Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for the Formula One world drivers’ championship. 

Leclerc was one of a few drivers who decided to use the heavy rain at the end of the first lap to head to the pits. The Monegasque star wanted to change to intermediate tyres. 

However, when he emerged into the pits, images show that the Ferrari staff were completely unprepared for his arrival. Some fans noticed that they did not have the tyres ready, wasting precious time at the start of the race. 

Leclerc attempted to take the blame for his last-second decision to dive for the pits. But it reflects badly on members of the team that they were unprepared for the move. 

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“I [made the call for the pitstop] in the last corner, so it was very late,” the 25-year-old said afterwards. 

“Looking at the situation in the last corner, I was sure that even if we lost five or six seconds with the pitstop, we would recover it during one lap easily.

“I expected to lose some time, but I think we could have optimised it better as a team, for the guys to be ready a little bit earlier in those type of situations.

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“But apart from that, it was the right choice in conditions like that, but it was very tricky because you are always changing from wet to dry, dry to wet, but it was the same for everybody.”

Leclerc arrived in the pits having suffered front-wing damage. He had lost the right-hand end-plate after making contact in the early stages of the contest, which was won on home soil by the dominant Verstappen. 

The Ferrari man was later forced to retire from the race due to the amount of damage on his vehicle. It was another disappointing run for Ferrari, who had Carlos Sainz finish down in fifth. Leclerc is sixth in the drivers’ leaderboard, three points behind Sainz. 

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