Leclerc Calls Ferrari’s Las Vegas Qualifying “Embarrassing”
Charles Leclerc expressed his frustration after the qualifying session of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, calling Ferrari’s performance “embarrassing.” The Monegasque driver pointed out the team’s persistent problems in rainy conditions since his arrival. Leclerc could only qualify in ninth position for Saturday’s race. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, finished in last position. Ferrari’s star drivers had downplayed recent criticism from Ferrari president John Elkann, who had urged them to “focus on driving and talking less.”The Friday afternoon session began with heavy rain, forcing the teams to use extreme rain tires, something unusual in modern Formula 1. Leclerc explained that his frustration with Ferrari’s performance in the wet dates back to his joining the team in 2019.“My God, embarrassing, fuck, embarrassing. Fuck, I don’t understand how we can be so out of rhythm… there’s no grip, zero grip,” Leclerc declared on the radio.
Leclerc went on to say that the team has tried different solutions without success.“Unfortunately, it’s not just today,” Leclerc told F1 TV. “It’s been like this since I joined the team, we’ve had major problems finding grip in these types of conditions. It’s very frustrating because it’s probably been my biggest strength in the lower categories and then…”
Hamilton, recognized for his skill in rainy conditions, also had difficulties and was eliminated in the first session.“We are doing something wrong. I have no idea what it is, because we have turned the car upside down. We have had Lewis and, obviously, Carlos before, who joined other teams that could tell us the feeling they had with the other cars. It is extremely difficult to find grip with our car. Very, very unpredictable with our car, which makes us make many mistakes. It’s not that we are not trying, because as a team we have tried absolutely everything. For some reason, we still haven’t found the way”.
“The car felt great in Free Practice 3 and, honestly, I thought it was going to go well. Yes, I was very, very excited. I thought we would finally have a good day, but it wasn’t like that”.
