Ferrari give reason for Charles Leclerc retirement on miserable Zandvoort afternoon

A miserable weekend got even more gloomy for Charles Leclerc after floor damage forced the Ferrari driver into retiring from the Dutch GP.

After giving Ferrari a grilling over team radio in qualifying as he narrowly escaped Q1, Leclerc went on to crash out of Q3 and trigger one of multiple red flag delays in that final session.

Here was to hoping then that the race would be a brighter affair, but alas, it was not.

查尔斯·勒克莱尔和地板damag退休e after early collision

As rain fell to make for a chaotic start to the race at Circuit Zandvoort, Leclerc gave a demonstration of how tricky the conditions were when a snap meant he gave Oscar Piastri in the McLaren a whack.

That left Leclerc with front wing damage as the rain got heavier, while Ferrari were not ready with the intermediate tyres as he came into the pits, a nightmare opening to the Dutch GP for team and driver.

It only got worse from there as Leclerc, struggling to make progress back through the order, and even overtaken by AlphaTauri debutant Liam Lawson, was called into the pits on Lap 42 to retire the car.

With Ferrari confirming to their driver that the problem was “getting worse”, the team went on to confirm that floor damage had forced Leclerc to call it a day.

This certainly then was not the race weekend which Leclerc and Ferrari had in mind as the momentum of that podium finish last time out in Belgium fades away.

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