The night in Bahrain is darker for Charles Leclerc, at least in the first stages of the Sakhir race, when the Monegasque is forced to face some brake problems.
It’s not an easy start to the world championship for Charles Leclerc. Ready, set, go: from the very first laps of the 2024 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, the Monegasque driver of the Maranello team, appears anything but comfortable in his SF-24 single-seater. The Ferrari driver is immediately overtaken by the Mercedes W15 of George Russell, before embarking on his personal battle with the Ferrari SF-24 brakes.
Lock-ups multiply during the early stages of the race, and with them also long and unappealing lap times. Charles Leclerc struggles especially in turn 10, where the layout of the 5.412 km Bahrain International Circuit located in Sakhir requires braking with a turned steering wheel and the front loaded. Complaints reach Xavi Marcos repeatedly during the Bahrain race, and at the end of the race, Charles Leclerc asks the engineer: “What happened?!”
The brakes did not give Charles Leclerc peace, who reported great difficulties during braking: “When I brake, the car pulls all the way to the right!” he exclaimed on team radio on lap 18.
Xavi Marcos, after the chequered flag was waved, tried to explain the probable cause of the inconvenience. “We notice an imbalance between the temperatures of the left front and the right front, so we see ‘pulling’ during braking.”
At this point, the Spanish engineer of car #16 is interrupted by Frédéric Vasseur. The Ferrari team principal hurries and closes the conversation on the topic with a decisive “we’ll explain later.”
Source: f1ingenerale
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