Charles Leclerc again cut a frustrated figure following a qualifying session for the Dutch Grand Prix in which he had “zero idea” as to what to expect from his car.
Not for the first time this season, the SF-23 delivered a performance that left Leclerc, in particular, perplexed and involved in a crash which leaves him starting from ninth on the grid at Zandvoort.
“It’s one of those weekends where the car is extremely difficult to drive,” said Leclerc. “Since FP1 we’ve been struggling in turns one, nine, and 10.
“We changed the car completely, but honestly, there’s not much that helps us in these three corners.
“Turns nine and 10 are corners where you go into them, you are releasing the brakes, and there’s absolutely no grip for whatever reason.
“Then you are just trusting the car to grip again on the exit, which it didn’t on that lap, and I obviously ended up in a wall.”
Throughout a predominantly wet day, Leclerc had already endured a couple of off-track moments which forced him to take to the escape roads around the gravel traps.
In Q3, it is clear from his approach into Turn 9 that the car fails to grip on entry, resulting in him sliding off and slamming into a barrier.
“In Formula 1, it’s all about anticipating and knowing what balance you’re going to get once you get into a corner,” said Leclerc.
“But at the moment, I’m getting into a corner, and I have zero idea whether I’m going to have huge understeer, huge oversteer, and that makes it very, very difficult for us.
“It’s been a very difficult weekend up until now. Hopefully, we can have a clean race.”
Further rain is forecast for race day, however, which threatens to make Leclerc’s bid to progress up the order a difficult task.
Following his crash, Leclerc was left to look on from a folding chair at the side of the track as qualifying concluded before he could make his way back to the paddock.
As to his thoughts at that time, with the sun finally out and brightening up what had previously been a wretched day, Leclerc said: “I was just enjoying the moment as much as I could enjoy it because again it’s just a very difficult weekend.
“Every time you get into the car not knowing what you’re going to get is not a situation I like.”
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