Charles Leclerc once again crashed his Ferrari during qualifying before the Dutch Grand Prix. Speaking to the media after, he seemed to be unpleased with the balance of the car once again. He complained about a similar issue after crashing the car in Miami.
This entire season has been a rough one for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari. They have been struggling with the performance of the car in almost every race. Charles Leclerc is unable to get the confidence required in the car. Just when he feels that he has confidence, the car does something predictable taking them back to where they started.
During the final qualifying session before the Dutch Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc lost control of the car and hit the wall. He qualified P9 for the Grand Prix, just ahead of Logan Sargeant who crashed earlier. After crashing Charles once again criticised the SF-23. Here is what he said:
Replay of Charles Leclerc’s crash in Q3.
“Sorry guys.” 😔 pic.twitter.com/EmhZw38Vt7
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) August 26, 2023
“I wasn’t over-pushing, and I wasn’t over the limit, like in Miami, for example. However, the car is really difficult to drive. We go from a lot of understeer to a lot of oversteer. We need to improve quickly, but that’s not an excuse”
During the qualifying session for the Miami Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc faced a similar issue and crashed the car. They seemed to have made some progress during the Belgian Grand Prix where Leclerc finished P3. However, they once again seem to have taken a step back in their development.
Ferrari is unable to bring positive developments for the SF-23
Previously, Ferrari team principal, Fred Vasseur said that the team will be planning to bring upgrades in every single race this season. However, these upgrades have failed to make any big positive impact on the car.
The Tifosi were hoping that the team would bring some good upgrades for the car after the summer break. However, it seems they have failed to do so. Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari was struggling for pace throughout the weekend. Even before his crash, he was almost knocked out from Qualifying during the first session.
Ferrari feels that their car will be quicker in high downforce tracks such as Monaco and Hungary, and weaker in tracks such as Belgium and Canada which are low downforce circuits. However, the results say otherwise.
Charles Leclerc says the Ferrari SF-23 has understeer as well as oversteer:
“I wasn’t over-pushing, and I wasn’t over the limit, like in Miami, for example. However, the car is really difficult to drive.”
“We go from a lot of understeer to a lot of oversteer. We need to improve… pic.twitter.com/LiDrjZRhV7
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) August 26, 2023
In Monaco and Hungary, the Ferraris have had poor results while in Belgium and Canada, they finished in the top 5. This has led certain fans to think that they are not able to understand their own car.
Let’s see if the team is able to learn in the remainder of the season so they can build a competitive car for the 2024 season. The Tifosi have been waiting for a long time for a Championship. The last Championship for Ferrari came in 2008. This is the longest the team has gone without winning a Championship. Hopefully, the Tifosi will not have to wait for another 15 years.