Charles Leclerc has conceded that the “inconsistency” of the Ferrari left him without a clear reference ahead of qualifying for the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
The Monegasque could manage only sixth in qualifying, admitting he failed to piece together his best lap despite believing fourth was the maximum possible.
Ferrari’s qualifying woes came as little surprise after Leclerc had already labelled Friday as the team’s “worst of the season”, finishing almost a second adrift of McLaren in FP2.
He had highlighted that Ferrari lost most of its time in Zandvoort’s long, sweeping Turns 9 and 10 – a weakness that carried over into Saturday.
Despite making “one of the biggest changes of the season” overnight, Leclerc admitted the SF-25 remained inconsistent and left him without clear references heading into qualifying.
“It’s been a very difficult one,” Leclerc admitted to media including Motorsport Week.
“It’s the kind of weekend where I never really had the references going into quali. I didn’t really know what to expect from the car; it was so inconsistent from FP1 to qualifying.
“But it was difficult to take good references, and that definitely didn’t help me, but on the other hand, it’s not an excuse. I didn’t do a good job in qualifying, especially in Q3.
“I didn’t put my lap together – I think P4 realistically was the best we could do with our car, but it is what it is.”
Leclerc begrudingly agreed that sixth place was at least a form of damage limitation, even if he felt more was possible with a cleaner lap.
“Unfortunately, it could have been worse – which P6 normally should be the worst it could get, but it could have been worse,” he added.
“Actually, P6 is probably our strongest session of the weekend; we are maximising what we are having, but I still believe I could have done a better job.”
Zandvoort layout and overnight changes deepen Ferrari’s inconsistency
Leclerc’s struggles were clear from the outset, only scraping through Q1 in 10th.
He found more rhythm in Q2, but his 1:09.340s was still over six tenths adrift of the McLaren duo, albeit a notable three-tenths improvement on his practice pace.
The 27-year-old acknowledged Zandvoort’s layout made Ferrari’s issues even more pronounced, with the track’s long, winding corners proving especially punishing.
“I think it is just the characteristics of this track that is highlighting our weaknesses, like the long corners, 9 and 10, for example,” he explained. “It’s crazy how much we are losing in these two corners, and unfortunately, there’s not much that we can do.”
Meanwhile, Ferrari attempted to recover overnight with significant changes to the SF-25, but Leclerc admitted the scale of the tweaks only made it harder to find consistency.
“A lot, a lot,” he exclaimed when asked if the team had made any alterations to the car. “Probably one of the biggest changes of the season from one day to another, so that also doesn’t help again on the consistency of the weekend and how to build the weekend nicely.
“Wasn’t easy, but it was what we had to do considering such a poor Friday.”
READ MORE – Charles Leclerc reveals alarming Ferrari deficit at F1 Dutch GP
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