F1 News: Charles Leclerc Laments 'Difficult Weekend' Ahead Of Mexican GP

Saajan Jogia | 8 Hours Ago

Oct 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc (16) of Team Monaco stands on the podium after the 2024 Formula One US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc admitted that giving up his seat to rookie driver Oliver Bearman might have added to his "difficult weekend" at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The Monegasque secured P4 in qualifying after fighting for grip since FP2 in his SF-24 F1 car.

Leclerc encountered a challenging moment at Turn 10 in Q3 while pushing his car to the limit in pursuit of a competitive lap time despite struggling with limited grip. This traction issue caused considerable sliding as he aimed for maximum pace in qualifying. Speaking on his qualifying disappointment, the Ferrari driver told the media:

"I'm disappointed, but I'm not surprised. I was struggling and not feeling well since FP2 with the car. That's the way it is.

"In Q3, the lap was coming very nicely until Turn 10 where I lost the car, but I had to take those risks just because I didn't have the pace. It's the way it is. I think P4 is not that bad, but of course it could be better.

"[I'm missing] grip and feeling. Sometimes you like the balance; today I don't, yesterday I didn't either. I think it's probably not one of my strengths, the qualifying in very low-grip tracks.

"I tend to push quite a lot in qualifying, in Monza and here I always struggle quite a lot with that. However, it's the way it is. The only thing that gives me some optimism is that I think I was the fastest guy yesterday in race simulations, which is a good thing, starting from fourth and making my life more difficult.

"I've got to think a lot more in order to finish a lap and try to contain a bit more my will to push extremely hard in those qualifyings, because it just doesn't work out on those on those tracks.

"Today I tried to do that, it was working pretty fine in Q3, however I lost the car in Turn 10, and from that moment, it was very difficult to finish my lap."

Emphasizing the low grip levels at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit, Leclerc felt having FP1 to himself instead of Bearman would have helped his cause. However, he remains optimistic for an improved performance in Sunday’s Grand Prix. He added:

"You slide a lot, just because there's very, very low grip. You've just got to be a little bit less on the limit on those tracks and I struggled a bit more to do that.

"However, for the race pace, it doesn't seem to be an issue. It wasn't an issue in Monza, I don't think it will be an issue tomorrow, so on that I'm a lot less worried. But in quali it's a bit tricky.

"I think [having FP1] always helps, especially on a difficult weekend for me. At the end, it hasn't hurt my performance so much.

"It's been a difficult weekend so of course, when it's like this, you want FP1, but we couldn't have known before."