Charles Leclerc Identifies Major Issue With Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Ahead Of Race

DRS trains are going to be a major issue for the driver who takes on a ten-place grid penalty this weekend.

Charles Leclerc has identified a major issue in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that could make his race a lot harder after a grid penalty.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc is set to face a tough challenge as he takes on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, starting from 12th place on the grid. Despite qualifying second in the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Leclerc was handed a ten-place grid penalty for after having his control electronics replaced for the third time this season.

Unfortunately, the Monogasque driver isn't feeling optimistic about his chances to push up the grid thanks to the individual features of the Jeddah track. This idea was also mirrored by our edit Alex Harrington ahead of this interview.

Wondering how Lando Norris is feeling right now. The McLaren can get up the grid for sure, but holy DRS trains!

It's going to be hard for the likes of Leclerc, Lando, and potentially even Verstappen to get back where they should be.#F1 #SaudiArabianGP

— Alex Harrington (@AlexOnRacing) March 19, 2023

Leclerc revealed:

“I don’t know how easy it’s going to be to overtake on this track because the midfield seems to be all extremely close in terms of race pace,” he admitted.

“And if you have a DRS train, then it makes things very difficult. But I’ll give my best and try to come back to the front as quickly as possible and we’ll see what happens.”

Leclerc showed amazing pace during his last flying lap of Q3 yesterday, but while he is very happy with his performance, he doesn't believe there's much more to give:

“In the lap, I’m really, really happy – it was really on the limit,” he continued.

“On the other hand, I feel like the Red Bulls are quite far ahead. And that is our goal – to beat them. So there’s still a lot of work to do."

The SF-23 certainly doesn't seem to be playing ball this weekend with the Maranello team looking to have turned the PU's power down. Leclerc remains optimistic, but realistic at the same time as the cars struggle with grip.