Frustrated Charles Leclerc vents at Ferrari after Q1 elimination near miss

Jamie Woodhouse 26 Aug 2023 2:43 PM

Charles Leclerc holds an umbrella. Spa July 2023.

Charles Leclerc gave his Ferrari team a wake-up call over team radio after only just escaping Q1 elimination at the Dutch GP.

Traffic, as expected, proved to be a tricky factor to navigate as 20 cars were unleashed around the tight and technical Circuit Zandvoort for Q1.

Leclerc and Ferrari found that out the hard way, the driver left with one final attempt to escape the elimination zone.

Charles Leclerc makes frustrations clear to Ferrari

The Monegasque racer ultimately succeeded in his escape, though only just, making the Q2 cut by 0.048s.

With that mission complete then, Leclerc took to the radio to give Ferrari a dressing down regarding that sticky situation that he ended up in.

A team that is no stranger to being called out on key strategic decisions at times, Leclerc stressed that escaping traffic for tyre warm-up is the “only priority” they had, and that they were lucky to be in Q2.

PlanetF1.com建议

F1 points all-time rankings: Where do Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso feature?

F1 Driver of the Day: Who has won the award in F1 2023?

“Come on, now, let’s be on it,” said the angry Ferrari driver. “Traffic is the most important. Tyre warm-up and everything. This is important, this is the only priority we have!

“Let’s focus on that and everything will be fine.

“Otherwise, we are going to be out in Q2, we are lucky already to be in.”

Leclerc ultimately made it to Q3, though his session ended in very disappointing fashion as he understeered off into the barriers at the exit of Turn 9, destroying the front-left area of the SF-23.