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Charles Leclerc was forced to admit that Ferrari has not found the root cause of his qualifying issue in Spain last time out. The Monegasque driver could only manage a P19 start in Barcelona, failing to make it out of Q1 due to an unknown issue.
Ferrari had a dismal outing in Spain, with Carlos Sainz finishing fifth and Leclerc failing to score points.
The Monegasque had an especially dire time in Barcelona after struggling to find pace in his SF-23. To make matters worse for the former Sauber driver, the Italian team is still unsure of the issue that plagued his performance in qualifying.
Speaking about his issue in Spain, Charles Leclerc admitted that the team has no idea what went wrong in Spain. Ahead of the 2023 F1 Canadian GP, he said:
"Qualifying in Barcelona was a very particular one. I think I wasn't the only one to struggle, and we need to understand these things. And for now, we don't have the reason. So this is a little bit more worrying, and that's where we need to push and try to understand the reason for it."
Charles Leclerc continued:
"Because obviously, the feeling was really bad. And then, looking ahead, we just need to keep pushing, trying to bring upgrades as quickly as possible and regularly, which is our aim now, to try to close the gap with the guys in front and also to close the gap, especially in terms of race pace."
What led to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz's struggles in Spain?
Ferrari's SF-23 underwent notable improvements; however, their performance in Spain proved to be yet another disappointment, as both drivers failed to leave a strong impression.
Initially in a promising second position, Carlos Sainz ultimately finished fifth while his teammate Charles Leclerc struggled throughout the race, failing to secure any points and settling for 11th place.
According to respected F1 analyst Mark Hughes, Ferrari once again grappled with their longstanding issue of tire degradation.
Hughes specifically examined Carlos Sainz's tire degradation and noted that it was remarkably severe, to the extent that Sainz's lap times on fresh medium tires were comparable to Lewis Hamilton's lap times on worn soft tires.
Furthermore, Ferrari made the strategic choice to employ significantly lower wing levels in comparison to both Red Bull and Mercedes. This decision granted them an advantage during qualifying but it also exposed them to heightened tire degradation during the actual race.
Mark Hughes wrote for Formula1.com:
"Knowing how demanding the track is of the tyres, why Ferrari chose this level of wing is the interesting point. Its ride quality over the kerbs was poor, just as it had been in Monaco last week, and around Barcelona that was inducing bouncing in the car in qualifying. Running more downforce may only have worsened that."
With Charles Leclerc and Ferrari hoping that their performance in Spain was an outlier, it will be interesting to see the team's progress in Montreal this weekend.
