Charles Leclerc Laments Singapore GP Qualifying Catastrophe: ‘A Problem We’ve Never Had

Charles Leclerc laments a unique issue following a disastrous Q3 session in Singapore

Charles Leclerc looks back on a troublesome qualifying round at the Singapore Grand Prix that presented an unprecedented problem.

Charles Leclerc attributed his poor performance in Q3 during the Singapore Grand Prix to insufficient front tyre temperature.

Leclerc's last qualifying lap got erased due to surpassing track boundaries in Q3, placing him in ninth position on the starting grid for Sunday's race.

Before Carlos Sainz's accident, Leclerc appeared to be in the running for the top spot. However, the crash left the other nine drivers with only enough time to finish a single lap.

As his tires hadn't warmed up sufficiently, Leclerc found it difficult to assemble a strong lap, resulting in a time that was slower than that of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg.

At that point, it was removed due to track limit violations, concluding a dreadful qualifying session for Ferrari.

After the qualifying session, Leclerc discussed the problem he encountered with Sky Sports.

Leclerc stated, "We've faced an issue that wasn't present all weekend. The front tire blankets aren't functioning correctly, so when we exit the pits, the front tires are extremely cold."

"I had to go all out on the out lap to get the temperature back up, but it never worked. That's all I can say. Right now, I have no clue. I haven't gone through the data or talked to the team after the lap, and they haven't provided any answers. I believe they're still looking into it. I just don't know."

Leclerc denied allegations that Ferrari was not performing well following a disappointing last practice session.

During the second qualifying session, Leclerc was less than a tenth of a second behind Oscar Piastri's best time, indicating that Ferrari was a strong contender for pole position.

Leclerc thinks Ferrari needed to complete a lap.

He stated, "We performed well today, especially in qualifying. However, we faced some challenges during FP3 because of the warmer conditions, and we anticipated some issues with the setup. Nevertheless, we were optimistic that things would improve for the qualifying session."

"A lap time of 29.7 seconds in Q2 was really strong. However, in Q3, we needed to get a time recorded but unfortunately, we couldn't manage it."

Explore Further

Sign up for our F1 Newsletter

Receive the newest updates, exclusive content, interviews, and special offers from the Formula 1 world straight to your email.

For further details, please refer to our Privacy Policy

Current Updates

Additional Updates

Site Index

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

Copying any part or the entirety of the text, images, or drawings in any manner is prohibited.