Source:REUTERS/JAKUB PORZYCKI
[Saba Sports News] Recently, Charles Leclerc offered a pessimistic assessment of Ferrari’s performance after Sprint Qualifying for the F1 United States Grand Prix. Leclerc, who finished at the bottom of the top ten in Sprint Qualifying, stated the team is “significantly behind now.” Although Leclerc won at the Circuit of the Americas in 2024, his luck seemed to desert him on Friday. He missed some practice time as his car was inspected in the garage due to an issue that arose during the earlier practice session. During the first segment of Sprint Qualifying (SQ1), he even faced the risk of elimination. The Monegasque driver struggled to match his rivals in the final segment (SQ3) and ultimately finished tenth. When asked where he lost time, Leclerc replied: “Everywhere. Slow everywhere. My lap in SQ3 was clean. I don’t have many regrets about my lap. Maybe doing a few more laps this morning on the medium tyre could have allowed for better fine-tuning of the car – perhaps gaining a tenth or half a tenth, but it wouldn’t be enough. We are significantly behind now.” When asked if the Ferrari team could make any changes for the remainder of the weekend to ensure better performance in the subsequent sessions, Leclerc did not express much hope.