It was a tale of two endings for Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc at the 2023 Spanish GP Qualifying. Sainz qualified P2 for his home Grand Prix, making his first front-row start of the season. Meanwhile, Leclerc endured a disastrous Q1 exit with a P19 finish.
The Monegasque claimed there was something wrong with his car. He complained later that the car was not responding well and that is why he suffered the horrific qualifying results.
His teammate Sainz was overjoyed to start in the front row alongside polesitter Max Verstappen. However, the Spaniard blames Ferrari’s car which has been the center of the Scuderia’s dismal start.
Carlos Sainz blames Ferrari for Charles Leclerc’s exit
Carlos Sainz sympathized with teammate Charles Leclerc after his Q1 exit. The Spaniard who has overqualified his teammate for the 3rd time this season claims it was just one more reliability issue.
“I don’t know exactly what happened to Charles, but it seems to be the same story all year,” he told after the session. Sainz added, “The car has a very narrow window, and depending on the conditions, you struggle with different balances”.
Team Principal Fred Vasseur admitted Ferrari will investigate the matter after the session. He said, “We have to understand what happened in Charles’ car because, on the left curves, there was something wrong. There must be something broken. I trust Charles’ perception.”
Ferrari’s reliability issues were blamed to be one of the main reasons behind their failed attempt to win the title in 2022. The team suffered numerous retirements and setbacks, resulting in the team throwing away the lead to Red Bull. It seems the trend has continued in the 2023 season and the Scuderia have a major problem to fix.
Charles Leclerc explains the reason behind the Q1 exit
Charles Leclerc is considered an expert in qualifying due to his superior one-lap pace. However, despite having the same upgrades as Carlos Sainz had on his car, the Monegasque described his car as “undrivable.”
The driver was heard complaining about his rear tires lacking grip during Q1. The 5-GP winner almost hit the wall after losing his rear during the session. However, the problem persisted even though Ferrari swapped his tires during the red flag.
The driver told F1, “I don’t know the answer. The only thing I can say is that the left-hand corners were undrivable, and with the right-hand corners, the feeling was very similar to this morning.”
He added, “There’s just something off in the left-hand corners that we need to analyze and understand because it was very far off what I expected.” This was Leclerc’s first Q1 exit since the 2019 Monaco GP.
While Leclerc has been patient with Ferrari’s progress, it will be another long race for him tomorrow. The driver will have to overtake 9 cars to finish on points, on a track not known for exciting racing. Let’s see if the improved turn 12 comes in Leclerc’s aide during Sunday’s race.
