Ferrari's Jock Clear admits that the team expected a better result from Charles Leclerc at the Canadian GP, where the Monegasque came fifth.
Ferrari's Jock Clear admits that the team had hoped for a better result from Charles Leclerc at the Canadian GP, where the Monegasque came fifth.
Leclerc started on the last row of the grid due to engine penalties and tried to climb the field, but got stuck in traffic on more than one occasion and spent many laps behind Esteban Ocon.
Clear - a senior performance engineer who is also an instructor for members of the Ferrari Driver Academy - acknowledges that fifth position had been set as the minimum target before the race.
When asked in the podcast if the team felt they could have done more, Clear replied, "Absolutely. I think fifth place was probably the minimum we wanted before the race."
"Yeah, you think it's a long way ahead starting 19th. But with the pace of the car that we have, fifth place was the least we wanted. To be honest, we expected more, and realistically."
Nevertheless, Clear reiterated that it was not Leclerc's fault, who he said had a challenging race considering the traffic problems.
"The fact is that the race was incredibly frustrating for Charles because he got stuck behind Ocon, and actually the safety car came at the wrong time for him.
"The ball didn't turn for him and it was frustrating. He didn't do anything wrong and Ocon drove very well to hold him off, but it was just the frustration of going 15 laps behind, looking at Ocon's rear wing."
When asked if they expected the overtaking to be easier, Clear commented, "Theoretically, with no wind, it would have been easier."
"We came in and it was just as the forecast told us it would be. There was a headwind at the hairpin exit that went all the way to the last chicane."
"The drivers were saying it's the worst thing you can have for overtaking because it reduces the effect of the DRS, of course, it reduces the drag on the car in front and it really doesn't have much effect on the car behind."
"So Charles was saying (before the race) that it would be much more difficult to overtake, and that's what ended up happening."