A post-event analysis by Ferrari into the malaise that hindered Charles Leclerc during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix has failed to identify an issue.
Leclerc complained of an inability to turn the car left after he qualified 19th in Barcelona, describing the issue as “strange” at the time.
That saw the Scuderia opt to take his car out of parc ferme conditions to replace the rear axle, which was shipped to its Maranello base for deeper investigation.
Ferrari resolved the issue with the rear-end change but saw Leclerc start from the pit lane, recovering to 11th place, less than a second behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
“To be honest, it’s the first time that it happened in my career,” Leclerc said of the issue.
“I mean, if I look on the left-hand corners, that’s where I was struggling.
“I said it straightaway after qualifying.
“We can see that on data, clearly; I’m losing six-and-a-half or seven-tenths in the left-hand corners.
“But there are no real reasons for it yet.”
Ferrari has introduced updates to the SF-23 in an effort to make the car more consistent, something team boss Fred Vasseur believes has happened.
That has not cured its issues, however, with Leclerc remaining dissatisfied with his current package.
“I think all the team is not satisfied with the performance we are showing at the moment on track and it’s very far off our expectations at the beginning of the season,” he said.
“We are very clear with ourselves and it’s very clear for us.
“Qualifying in Barcelona was a very particular one, I think I wasn’t the only one to struggle
“We need to understand these things and for now we don’t have the reason, so this is a little bit more worrying.
“That’s where we need to push and try to understand the reason of it because, obviously, the feeling was really, really bad.
“We just need to keep pushing, try and bring upgrades as quickly as possible and regularly,” he added.
“Even though I struggled a lot in qualifying on the Saturday, the Sunday wasn’t great either.
“If we look [at] Carlos… he had a great Saturday but then on Sunday, we struggled again with the race pace.
“What gives me confidence though is that there’s a clear direction in where we want to work and improve.
“This is what makes me believe in the project.”
