ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — Charles Leclerc said the erratic behaviour of his Ferrari contributed to the qualifying crash that will have him starting the Dutch Grand Prix from ninth on the grid.
Leclerc appeared to run out of road on the approach to the fast right-hand Turn 9, slamming into the wall in the process.
The five-time race winner said Ferrari has struggled at that part of the track all weekend and has made no progress with changes to the setup.
“First of all, it’s one of those weekends where the car is extremely difficult to drive,” Leclerc said on Saturday evening.
“Since FP1 we’ve been struggling in Turn 1, 9 and 10 and changed the car completely and, honestly, there’s not much that helps us in these three corners.
“Turn 9 and 10 is one of those corners where you go into the corner, you are releasing the brake and there is absolutely no grip in the corner for whatever reason.
“Then you are trusting the car on gripping again on the exit, which it didn’t, and I obviously ended up in the wall.”
Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz have struggled with the consistency of the car all year. Leclerc said this remains an ongoing area of focus for the team.
“I agree we know where we need to be working on, and that’s the consistency of the car. There is no doubt we have done steps forward since the beginning of the year where every corner was like the three we had here.
“So we are doing steps in the right direction, but it’s still far off and for some reason this weekend it’s more than what we expected. We still know it’s a weakness, the consistency of the car, and we are working towards that.”
After his crash, TV cameras showed Leclerc sitting in a chair behind the crash fencing, an image similar to the viral one of Fernando Alonso after his McLaren’s engine failed at the 2015 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Footage that also circulated on social media showed Leclerc still stood at the same position after the session, watching on a big screen as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen celebrated taking pole position for Sunday’s race.
Asked what he was doing, Leclerc said: “I was just enjoying the moment as much as I could enjoy.
“It’s just a very difficult weekend and every time you get into the car not knowing what you are going to get is not a situation I like.”
Source: www.espn.com