Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc had a tense exchange with his race engineer Brian Bozzi during the sprint qualifying session at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix on Friday night. The eight-time race winner made a perfect start to the weekend, as he found himself over four-tenths faster than the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the FP1 session.
The classifications came as a shock to the Italian team as they were not expecting to be faster than the Woking-based outfit given the track characteristics of the Lusail International Circuit.
The Maranello-based outfit came back to expected lines during the first competitive session of the weekend as they found themselves over two and tenths behind Lando Norris. Charles Leclerc, who topped FP1, could not manage a P5 for the Sprint race on Saturday and finished behind his teammate Carlos Sainz.
The Monagasque driver had a couple of big understeer moments with the SF-24 as he tried his best to extract the maximum out of his package. Leclerc complained over the radio about the traffic and told his race engineer in the race broadcast:
“It’s a nightmare. I have no idea. Tell me a bit more [about the] cars behind because I have no idea what’s going on. Tell me the cars that are fast please! That’s it.”
Bozzi frustratingly replied:
“Yeah Charles, I know. There are many cars, I’m trying my best."
Charles Leclerc analyzes his P5 finish in the Sprint Qualifying
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc stated that the FP1 was a "lot above expectations" and believed that the P4 and P5 were among the lines as he believed it was not "great" given the gap between them and McLaren.
Speaking with Sky Sports, Leclerc said:
"We gave it our all and are only P4 and P5, which is not great considering how important this weekend is. Let's say, for whatever reason, FP1 was a lot above out expectations.
"This I will say is in line with what we expected. We are coming back to reality. Obviously, after FP1 there were hopes we could do something better but we didn't."
Charles Leclerc also gave his take on whether he and Sainz could take the fight to McLaren in the Sprint and added:
"If we look at FP1, clearly yes. If we look at qualifying, no. For now, the most representative session is qualifying. We are not in the best position. You never know. It's always different in the races."
Ferrari are currently 24 points behind McLaren in the Constructor's Championship with two races and one Sprint remaining. The Woking-based outfit can clinch the title this weekend if they outscore the Italian team by 21 points in the Sprint and the main race on Saturday and Sunday respectively.