Charles Leclerc was left frustrated and puzzled after last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, as the Monegasque endured another woeful round.
Leclerc was remarkably eliminated in Q1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya having only set the 19th fastest time, whilst he only recovered to P11 on Sunday.
It’s incredible to think just how different things were for Leclerc and Ferrari 12 months ago, as Leclerc had cruised to pole before destroying the field in the race.
Whilst he retired last season following a power unit failure, he was comfortably in the lead, something which made many believe he’d be strong last weekend.
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He ultimately struggled with an inconsistent car, with Ferrari having changed the entire rear of his SF-23 to try and understand why the 25-year-old’s pace varied so much in each session.
Nothing seemed to work for Leclerc, who revealed after the race that the car felt “completely different” on two different sets of Hard tyres.
Ultimately, Leclerc doesn’t “understand” where his side are getting it so wrong.
“I don’t understand what we are doing wrong but we are doing something wrong,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1.
“I went from a first hard (tyre), to a second hard in the last stint, did the same thing and the car is behaving in a completely different way.”
It’s not just in Spain where Leclerc has struggled, with Ferrari having lacked pace in the majority of races this season.
“We have to understand and work but it’s been a few races now where we are struggling with the conditions or having a really peaky car and today is no better,” Leclerc added.
Following the series of changes to Leclerc’s car ahead of Sunday’s race, his SF-23 did feel better.
He revealed that in qualifying his car felt “super loose and strange”, to the extent where he “could not drive”.
“It did (feel better), but the limitations were the opposite,” Leclerc said.
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“Yesterday I could not drive, I had a rear that was super loose and strange. We will analyse all of this at the factory. Today was mostly the front.
“The second and third stints were quite a bit better. The first stint was really bad but I think that was more tyre related.
“I feel like all weekend we have been speaking with drivers and we are struggling. It’s such a tiny window and on this track it seems to be more sensitive than others. We need to be on top of those things.”