Charles Leclerc’s biggest headache so far in the Qatar GP, if not even this season, has been solved by Scuderia Ferrari itself after the Italians discovered a crack in its chassis.
Away from the comfort that comes from having previously ridden a large number of laps on a circuit, as happens to most riders with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as it is a common test track at the beginning of the year, some members of the Formula 1 grid suffered a lot to keep your car on the asphalt.
Trying to find the limits of Losail without testing the loopholes is not an easy task, a fact that has been proven after free practice and especially the qualifying session. However, on this occasion the continuation of the ordinary pianos consisted of a series of deadly curbs for car floors, something similar to what happened at the Red Bull Ring with the Austrian Grand Prix.
In Q1, practically as it happened in the first contact of FP1, the pilots focused their efforts on passing the cut without attacking excessively the deadly pianos, fearful of the disastrous consequences that these could cause.
Bad luck
However, in the case of Charles Leclerc, the young Monegasque driver could do nothing to avoid contact with them: already from Q1, # 16 reported very erratic behavior from his SF21, a setback that only got worse as the minutes passed.
From 1: 22.742 in Q1 it barely improved to 1: 22.463, 279 thousandths in Q2, while his teammate Carlos Sainz went from 1: 22.304 to 1: 22.241, steadily ahead this time even on the medium tire on Leclerc’s soft to become the only Ferrari representation in Q3.
Loading tweet …
1462103449269678085
Arg! I have no idea what is happening. Really, no idea, ”Leclerc reported on the radio when he was unable to interfere with the 10 fastest drivers on Saturday, saddened. Once qualifying was over, Ferrari has found the answer to such a marked lack of performance, a crack that will force them to work at full speed to repair the damage and not be relegated to the back of the grid.
After checking Leclerc’s car, a crack was found in the chassis, probably as a result of going over the pianos on his first attempt at Q1. Now you need to change it. If all the work is carried out within the time allowed by the sports regulations, Charles will start from the position he achieved in qualifying, ”reads the Ferrari statement.
Loading tweet …
1462113510159110150