F1 News: Charles Leclerc On His Dutch GP Crash - "Extreme Difficult To Drive"
Charles Leclerc has spoken out after his qualifying crash this weekend during the qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix, admitting that the car "extremely difficult to drive".
The dramatic Dutch Grand Prix qualifying was marred by not one, but two significant crashes today. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, unfortunately, found himself under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons after a frightening off at Turn 9 saw him collide with the race wall.
The racing world held its collective breath as they witnessed the understeer and the consequential crash. Fortunately, and much to the relief of Scuderia Ferrari and ther fans, Leclerc quickly emerged from the wreckage unscathed.
"It's one of those weekends where the car is extremely difficult to drive. Since FP1 we've been struggling in Turn 1, 9 and 10. We changed the car completely and honestly, there's not much that helps us in these three corners.
"There's absolutely no grip in the corner for whatever reason. I think we've had that plenty of times this year. But it's just the car this weekend that is extremely difficult to drive.
"In Formula 1 it's all about anticipating and knowing what balance you are going to get once you get into the corner. But at the moment I'm getting into the corner and I have zero idea whether I'm going to have a huge understeer or a huge oversteer," Leclerc told journalists at the track.
Ferrari Press Image
Leclerc's accident has posed additional concerns for Ferrari. The Monegasque driver's car had just been fitted with its fourth gearbox of the season this weekend. With drivers being allocated only four gearboxes per season, any damage to the recently fitted gearbox could spell further trouble for Leclerc. If a replacement is required, he will be staring down the barrel of a penalty - a significant setback given the championship standings.
The session was further disrupted when Williams driver Logan Sargeant faced a similar fate as Leclerc, crashing into the race wall a mere two minutes into Q3. With another red flag drawn and the clock ticking down, the session's dynamic changed drastically.
With this incident bringing his qualifying to a quick end, the Monegasque will be starting P9 for tomorrow's race. All eyes now turn to his teammate, Carlos Sainz who finished his qualifying session on P6.