Charles Leclerc faced multiple issues with his Ferrari during the Qatar Sprint. Here’s the full team radio explaining the problems at the end of the race.
Charles Leclerc experienced an extremely challenging Sprint in Qatar, with issues appearing from the very start. In the opening corners, the Monegasque reported via radio an unusual balance in the car, struggling to stay on track and losing three positions as a result.
His race engineer immediately confirmed his feelings, with telemetry showing significant oversteer. Despite attempts to adjust the car’s behavior using the available cockpit tools, no effective solution could be found during the race, and Charles Leclerc ultimately finished the short sprint in P13.
Team radio reveals Ferrari struggles
After the checkered flag, Charles Leclerc requested updates from the team regarding the car’s abnormal behavior:
Leclerc: “We need to analyze very carefully what is happening. On the first lap, I thought I would destroy the car against the wall.”
Bozzi: “Yes, understood.”
Leclerc: “Did you notice anything strange or not?”
Bozzi: “We saw a front-end load loss later on. We still need to investigate the first lap, but both cars were heavily oversteering.”
Causes and next steps for Ferrari
This could have been caused by a misaligned setup or suboptimal tyre usage, leading them to operate outside their ideal performance window. Since this weekend features a Sprint format, parc fermé will be reopened, allowing teams to make setup adjustments before qualifying and the full Grand Prix. Therefore, if Ferrari can accurately identify the cause of the problem, they will have a full opportunity to intervene on the car and aim to finish the weekend with improved performance.
After such a nightmare Saturday afternoon, Maranello will be working flat-out to give Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton a car they can actually attack with later tonight.
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