Following the summer break, Ferrari displayed some breathtaking speed with impressive performances. They have surpassed Aston Martin and reduced the 56-point deficit with Mercedes to 20 points. The Maranello-based team has almost managed to compete with the Silver Arrows thanks to their minor improvements. Charles Leclerc, however, suffered during a critical qualifying session in Qatar on Friday. The Monegasque could’ve finished the race much higher than the rivals but owing to the issues with SF-23, he couldn’t.
The Mercedes drivers will start their race from P2 and P3 respectively. Ferrari, however, had a horrible field day. Charles Leclerc ended up in P5 as the times for both McLaren drivers were deleted but Carlos Sainz had a far worse day. The Spaniard, who could not get into Q3, will start his race from P12.
For Ferrari drivers, it was a difficult day as they were both spotted grumbling a lot over the radio about the mechanical problems. Sand initially had a significant role to play under the floodlights, being a big issue for every driver. Later there was a weird noise coming from Leclerc’s car. With these issues, Ferrari now has a very difficult job moving ahead.
Charles Leclerc addresses Ferrari’s issue
Charles Leclerc thought P5 was the best position they could get, given the SF23’s rear tires issue from yesterday. However, prior to his post-qualifying remark and explanation on the matter, the Monegasque was heard sounding quite irritated on the team’s radio. While going at a high speed to set the lap timing in turn 12/13/14 Leclerc revealed how the rears were “nowhere.” He said, ” The first lap was so bad. The rears are nowhere. And also let‘s talk about the steering wheel in Turn 12/13/14, I nearly put it in the wall for what happened.”
A closer look at the telemetry sheds light on #Leclerc‘s downshift issues. The problem results in a larger-than-expected loss of speed that costs ~0.2s through T13/14. This likely would put him ahead of #Hamilton and maybe #Russell. (2/2)#F1 #QatarGP #CL16 pic.twitter.com/1qNJ5jImPQ
— ProjectF1 (@_ProjectF1) October 6, 2023
Leclerc continued by describing how there was no issue with the second push. The 25-year-old only got one flying lap to get the best grid position before the Q3. This was because of rear tyre problems, which rendered the opening flying laps useless. After that, in the wee hours of the morning, a telemetry graph from Project F1 was posted online, demonstrating how Leclerc’s SF23 experienced issues with the downshift, preventing him from recording a lap time faster than his rivals. The issue caused a greater than-anticipated loss of speed, costing the Monegasque 0.2 seconds through turns 13 and 14.
If Leclerc had finished the qualifying round before Russell, he might have had a chance to finish higher. This is due to the deletion of the McLaren drivers’ times that would have kept him ahead of Russell. On the other Sainz, Sainz suffered a shock Q2 exit.
Qatar’s unexpected Q2 exit did not surprise Carlos Sainz
Sainz was fairly strong during practice in Lusail on Friday. After finishing second to Max Verstappen in the only practice session of the weekend, the Spaniard was expected to put up an impressive display in qualifying. However, under the floodlights, Ferrari’s SF-23 struggled prompting Sainz to have a disheartening P12 finish.
Not our Friday, but itching to attack a Sprint Saturday 👊#QatarGP 🇶🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/D6uXoCJj35
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) October 6, 2023
Nevertheless following the quali, the 29-year-old made a startling revelation to Formula 1. com of not being surprised with the Q2 exit. He said, “When the track [temperature] dropped this afternoon, I just couldn’t find any grip out there, so I just struggled quite heavily, so I’m not surprised to be out in Q2.”
Given that Qatar is a sprint weekend, Ferrari may have squandered a significant opportunity to rack up points. With Hamilton and Russell behind the W-14, the duo will certainly attempt to extend their 20 points lead.
