After bringing in upgrades to the 2023 Spanish GP, Ferrari was hoping for a weekend where they could close the gap to Aston Martin and Mercedes in the standings. Unfortunately, a dismal outing for Charles Leclerc limited their chances, and the Monegasque driver didn’t hold back while highlighting what the problem with Ferrari is.
Fans noticed significant changes to Ferrari’s side pods ahead of the Spanish GP. The main areas where they have been struggling all year are their straight-line speed and tyre degradation. Sadly for the Scuderia, this upgrade didn’t help them improve on either front.
Leclerc was particularly upset about Ferrari not working on improving their issues with the tyres. He started the race on the hard compound but failed to find his way into the top 10, because of a lack of grip. After the race, the 25-year-old slammed the Ferrari engineers. He even said that when the tyres on the SF-23 start working, he is positively surprised.
Charles Leclerc reveals what went wrong in Spain
Leclerc’s weekend started going downhill when he failed to make it out of Q1 on Saturday. It was the first time Leclerc didn’t take part in Q2 since 2019, and starting from P19 on the grid, getting into the points was always going to be tricky.
Still, Leclerc and Ferrari felt that with the car’s pace and a good strategy, breaking into the top ten wouldn’t be difficult. Unfortunately, Leclerc’s opening stint derailed any plans he had of leaving Barcelona with points.
“I used the hard tyre for two stints,” said Leclerc as quoted by Formu1a.uno. “In the first stint, it went terribly. While in the third, I felt incredibly comfortable. “We really struggle to get into the right tyre window. And when we do, it’s a surprise for us.”
Carlos Sainz on why the Circuit de Catalunya was the worst possible track for Ferrari
Leclerc had an outing to forget at the 2023 Spanish GP. His teammate Carlos Sainz, however, had some positives he can take away from the weekend. Qualifying in particular, saw the Madrid-born driver put in an incredible shift. He qualified in P2, right behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen.
The race, however, didn’t go too well as the SF-23’s shortcomings made him fall down to fifth place by the end of the race. After the race, Sainz told Sky Sports how the circuit has the worst possible track layout for Ferrari.
The Italian outfit continues to struggles in the long straights and in high-speed, which made life difficult for Sainz and Leclerc. Nevertheless, he insists that they are working towards a solution, and will close the gap to the front very soon.
