Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has always been known for his honesty about his own performances, and after qualifying at Silverstone he was quick to admit that he had not got the job done when it mattered in Q3.
The SF-25 looked good from the start of practice, seemingly well-suited to the smooth Silverstone track.
Leclerc was second fastest on Friday and then quickest in Saturday’s FP3. The Maranello team really caught the attention when the red cars were one-two in Q2, with Lewis Hamilton fastest.
Hamilton again had the edge in Q3, but this time they slipped to P5 and P6 – and Leclerc was left frustrated at an opportunity missed.
“I’m not doing the job,” he said when I asked about his session. “And I think since the beginning of the season, I’ve been performing very well in the races.
“And looking back at races, there are actually not many races where I will go back to change something that I’ve done inside the car.
“Unfortunately, when I look back at qualifying, which used to be my strength, there are many qualifyings where I would like to go back and to change something, because every time I get to Q3 for some reason, it’s not clicking at the moment. We’ve had good qualifyings, but we didn’t have great qualifyings.
“And again, this used to be my strength, so I’m not happy with the level that I’m showing in qualifying. We’ve got issues for sure, particularly today.
“From Q2 onwards, we a bit fighting with something inside the car. But it’s not an excuse. I need to be better.”
He added: “I honestly feel like we were quite strong today. What was lacking is a special lap and a lap where I put everything together, and unfortunately, that’s the difference from us to pole position.”
Leclerc would not elaborate on what was making his life so difficult at a crucial time.
“The issues are very specific, the ones we have. It’s not a balance issue, it’s not a grip issue, I don’t want to go into the detail, but it’s just something very weird that we’ve got to fight into the car, and especially when there are high-speed [corners], it makes it even more difficult.
“I hope we can resolve it. But the good thing, if we can say it’s a good thing, is that tomorrow, we won’t have any of this, and for sure, we won’t have any of problems of that sort.”
On the positive side the SF-25 has clearly been competitive thus far at Silverstone, with the new floor introduced in Austria last weekend potentially making a difference.
“I think we had a strong car this weekend, the high-speed, in terms of balance, in terms of grip, we’ve got quite a stable platform, also in the high-speed, if you look, compared to the McLaren especially.
“So think our car has some strengths this weekend. Again, this one issue that we are having at the moment is also making it a bit more difficult. So I think the car is good.
“We just need to put everything together, drivers and also maybe issues to challenge for more in quali.”
He remains confident that Ferrari has the pace with which to challenge the cars ahead, with George Russell and Mercedes the initial target.
“I hope so. But starting P6 again, it makes it so difficult, because every time we are starting the race by fighting to come back, and then once we are back at the front, people that have had a clean race, just have an advantage on us. So we need to be better in qualifying.”
Adam Cooper F1 