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Frederic Vasseur

Vasseur concedes Ferrari 'at the limit' in Leclerc defence

Charles Leclerc has scored just 10 points since winning the Monaco Grand Prix.

Leclerc Silverstone race
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Frederic Vasseur has defended Charles Leclerc's recent form and has conceded that Ferrari's SF24 is "at the limit", causing problems for the Monegasque. 

Since his emotional Monaco Grand Prix victory, Leclerc has gone on a miserable run of results, scoring just 10 points across the last four races.

Leclerc's disappointing Silverstone weekend was largely caused by the Ferrari driver making a mistake at Turn 13 in Q2, which resulted in a shock elimination for the 26-year-old. 

He started the British GP in 11th, only for a strategic gamble by the Maranello-based outfit to fail. 

Points looked on the cards prior to Ferrari's bold decision to pit Leclerc for intermediate tyres when light rain fell, a call which backfired as the circuit remained dry for several laps. 

In his defence of Leclerc, Vasseur outlined an investigation must be conducted into the challenging weekend.

"First we have to avoid to try to draw a generic conclusion on what's happened, we need to have a deep look on everything," Vasseur told media including RacingNews365

"I think the car the last two races was not easy to drive. Charles had the new package on Friday, then had to do FP3 in the wet and then we went into quali with a car he hadn't driven before.  

"He was in very good shape until Turn 13. We spoke together about this on Saturday, but he was faster until Turn 13. 

"But for sure, I think that we are really at the limit of the car. The car was not easy to drive in these conditions, but we are making more mistakes rather than when it's under control."

Ferrari guilty of trying too hard

Since Monaco, Ferrari has looked like a different team - the Italian manufacturer had a tremendous start to the season which saw both drivers claim victories. 

A difficult Canadian Grand Prix was considered a blip by most, although the continuation of its poor form has raised questions. 

Ferrari spent the start of the season second in the pecking order, but now finds itself in fourth behind both McLaren and Mercedes. 

A struggling car, driver errors and failed strategies have led Ferrari into a difficult situation, with Vasseur recognising that the team is trying too hard to make up for its various problems. 

"It's true that as soon as you have a kind of bad momentum, that you have the feeling that you have to compensate," conceded Vasseur.

"This is a mistake from the team, from the drivers, from everybody, because you can't compensate them. Basically, you have to be at the limit.

"It means that if something is going a bit less good, that you can't do more than what you were doing before.

"I think it's part of the reason of the call on the strategies, starting P11. He (Leclerc) had a very good start but lost 10 seconds behind Stroll.

"At one stage when you are 15 seconds off Sainz or Verstappen, you know that if you don't do something mega, you won't come back and it's probably part of the issue. But I had a long discussion with Charles, we agreed on this."

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