F1 | How many downforce points did Charles Leclerc lose due to lap 1 incident in 2023 Dutch GP?. How many downforce points did Charles lose?.

Following the contact with Oscar Piastri at the start of the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, a piece of the front wing of Charles Leclerc’s SF23 flew off, damaging the car’s underfloor and causing a loss of 60 points of aerodynamic downforce for the Monegasque driver, ultimately leading to his retirement. During the opening lap, in fact, car number 16 nearly lost control under acceleration, colliding with the McLaren driver and damaging the right end plate of the front wing.

The contact with Piastri at Zandvoort cost Leclerc’s SF23 60 downforce points.

The news was reported by Italian F1 expert Giuliano Duchessa, a source closely connected to Ferrari dynamics. According to him, the SF23 of Charles Leclerc lost a significant 60 points of downforce, as a damaged portion of the front wing, resulting from the contact with the McLaren, irreparably harmed the underfloor.

This damage would amount to a loss of 20% of vertical downforce in corners. On a twisty circuit with maximum downforce requirements like Zandvoort, it was evident that the Monegasque driver had to quickly concede defeat, returning to the pits and retiring from the race.

Following the contact, Charles Leclerc began to lose positions rapidly, sliding towards the back of the field and consistently lapping with the slowest times. Adding insult to injury, the lost downforce points triggered significant rear-end degradation, hampering Charles’ efforts to recover lost tenths.

To illustrate the extent of the damage with a practical example, as stated by Duchessa, it’s as if the Monegasque had driven with a rear wing configuration suited for Baku. On the contrary, all the others were running with extremely high downforce setups, also considering the weather conditions.

For these reasons, the team decided not to continue running, bringing the driver back to the pits to preserve the power unit’s mileage. With a zero score from the Dutch round, Charles Leclerc slipped once again behind his teammate Carlos Sainz. The latter, however, could not go beyond fifth place at the finish line.

Source: f1ingenerale