Both in the best days and in the less simple situations, Charles Leclerc has always been very sincere in his analyzes. When today at the end of Q2 he found himself thirteenth, the Ferrari driver shook his head: “I have no idea what happened. Usually when I get out of the car I have an idea of what I have done, I realize that I have done something wrong or the nature of a problem, but today I find it hard to say what went wrong “.
The answer came two hours after the end of qualifying, when at the end of the checks carried out by the Scuderia technicians on the Leclerc car, a damage to the chassis was identified, which probably occurred in a passage on a curb during Q1.
An unrepairable damage during a race weekend, and consequently the replacement of the body has become indispensable. News that put pressure on the Ferrari garage, who immediately went to work to try to complete the operation before the curfew began. The challenge is not to exceed the limit of hours available (21:30 in the evening of Losail, and from 12 tomorrow at the opening of the starting procedure of the race), otherwise Leclerc would be obliged to take the start of tomorrow’s race from the pit lane.
The extra work, definitely not welcome, came at the end of a long Saturday, completing a day with two faces for Ferrari. Together with the misadventures of Leclerc, a good qualification of Carlos Sainz must be taken into account, who tomorrow will be among the four drivers (together with Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas) who will be able to start the race with medium tires.
The strategists of the Scuderia in Q2 played a conscious… gamble, which worked perfectly. After the first ‘run’ with medium tires, Sainz occupied an eighth position which did not guarantee great certainty of passing the round, but when in the second attempt the direct opponents switched to the ‘soft’ (a choice considered more prudent) the Spaniard did not changed strategy, returning to the track with a second set of ‘yellow’. A choice that paid off, albeit with a bit of final apprehension (Sainz was tenth) which disappeared only after having been certain of Sergio Perez’s eleventh time.
The seventh position then conquered by Sainz in Q3 is not a great result, but at Losail both Ferrari and McLaren will not be alone in the comparison behind Mercedes and Red Bull: AlphaTauri and Alpine have adapted well to the track, and the fight ‘ midfield ‘promises to be very tight.
For Carlos there is also some regret for the final of Q3, when the yellow flag signals due to the presence of Gasly’s car at the start of the straight were respected by the Spaniard but not by all the drivers on the track.
Many unknowns remain on the race pace. Yesterday the feedback from Leclerc’s long-runs that Sainz was not brilliant, but the changes to the setup brought to the track today and the progressive tires of the track can offer a different scenario in the 57 laps scheduled for tomorrow.
If the Scuderia technicians win their race against time allowing Leclerc to start from thirteenth position, the two Ferrari drivers will be in direct contact with Norris and Ricciardo, the direct opponents in the race for third position in the Constructors’ classification.
“The balance of power seen today could also change – commented Laurent Mekies – and we must not forget that reliability will be a determining factor more than ever, as we learned the hard way this afternoon. What is certain is that we will do our utmost to ensure that any changes work in our favor, especially towards our main rivals. Despite all the difficulties of the day, nothing is compromised and there is still the possibility of collecting important points for the championship ”.
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