Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc endured a difficult qualifying session ahead of the F1 British GP. Failing to match his teammate Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc managed only P6 ahead of tomorrow’s Grand Prix.
Despite topping FP3 earlier today, the big moment got the best of Charles Leclerc in qualifying. Failing to extract the ultimate performance from his SF-25, the Monegasque driver only managed P6 behind his teammate. Some two tenths off the pole pace, Leclerc was disappointed by his performance.
Speaking in the print media pen following the session, Leclerc lamented his qualifying performance. Reflecting on the season as a whole, the Ferrari man highlighted his qualifying performances as a weak point.
“I’m not doing the job,” Leclerc said of his F1 British GP qualifying performance. “I think since the beginning of the season I’ve been performing very well in the races. Looking back at races, there are actually not many races where I would go back to change something that I’ve done inside the car.
“Unfortunately, when I look back at qualifyings, which used to be my strength, there are many qualifyings where I would like to go back and to change something. Because every time I get to Q3, for some reason it’s not clicking at the moment. We’ve had good qualifyings, but we didn’t have great qualifyings.”
Honing in on this afternoon’s session, he explained the team had been fighting an issue from Q2 onwards. Despite this, Leclerc put the blame solely on himself, noting his previous prowess on a Saturday.
“[Qualifying] used to be my strength,” he explained. “So I’m not happy with the level that I’m showing. In qualifying, we’ve got issues, for sure. Particularly today, from Q2 onwards, we were a bit fighting with something inside the car, but it’s not an excuse. I need to be better.”
Delving into his qualifying issues, Leclerc noted an undisclosed “weird” issue with the SF-25 which he suggests is hindering his Biritsh GP qualifying. When asked if it was difficult to manage the car during the session, he claimed it was not.
Instead, while admitting the grip levels and balance of the car were okay, he avoided explaining the root cause.
“To keep it on track, it was okay.” he replied when asked about the session. “The issues are very specific, the ones we have. It’s not a balance issue, it’s not a grip issue. I don’t want to go into the details, but it’s just something very weird that we’ve got to fight into the car. Especially when they are high-speed, it makes it even more difficult.
“I hope we can resolve it. But the good thing, if we can say it’s a good thing, is that tomorrow we won’t have any of this. For sure, we won’t have any problems of that sort.”
When quizzed on this unexplored issue with the Ferrari, Leclerc remained elusive. The Ferrari man gave little away as to the cause of the problem. When pushed on the matter, Leclerc suggested the issue was intermittent and somewhat unpredictable.
He was asked if an upcoming upgrade to the car would target this problem, but he confirmed it was unrelated.
“I think we had a strong car this weekend,” Leclerc said following the questioning. “The high speed in terms of balance, in terms of grip. We’ve got quite a stable platform also in the high speed, if you look compared to the McLaren especially. So, I think our car has some strength this weekend. Again, this one issue that we are having at the moment is also making it a bit more difficult.
“So, I think the car is good. We just need to put everything together, drivers and also maybe issues to challenge for more in qualifying. Honestly, the platform is quite stable and I really like it. So, there’s no problem on that side.
“[The upgrade is] unrelated. It’s something we didn’t talk about too much. It’s something that sometimes in qualifying we have the problem. In some others, we have absolutely zero problem with it. But today was a bit of a problem.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s Grand Prix, the media asked Leclerc about the team’s promising long run pace during practice. Having admitted he does not expect any impact on the undisclosed issue, he remained hopeful.
Continuing on however, Leclerc was cautious, noting the advantages those starting ahead will enjoy.
“I hope [we can fight back],” Leclerc said when asked about the Grand Prix. “But starting P6 again, it makes it so difficult. Because every time we are starting the race by fighting to come back, and then once we are back at the front, people that have had a clean race just have an advantage on us. So, we need to be better in qualifying.”
