‘Losing basically 90 per cent’ – Leclerc’s worrying ‘two corner’ revelation in Zandvoort

Charles Leclerc has revealed Ferrari is suffering “90 per cent” of its deficit to McLaren in just two corners at the Zandvoort circuit.

It’s a problem that is likely to continue into Saturday’s qualifying as well as Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix as it’s an issue with the SF-25 in “something our car cannot do”.

Charles Leclerc suffering ’90 per cent’ of his deficit in two corners

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Returning to the track after Formula 1’s summer break, Ferrari found itself on the back foot in Friday’s practice at the Zandvoort circuit.

The squad finished 14th and 15th in FP1 where both drivers were over 1.6s down on pace-setter Lando Norris. The drivers broke into the top ten in the afternoon’s second session, where Hamilton was fifth, after two spins on Friday, Leclerc was eighth.

The latter was a tenth down on his team-mate and 0.944s down on Norris.

“I would sum it up as a very, very, very, very difficult Friday. Probably the worst Friday of the season,” Leclerc told the media, including PlanetF1.com, “which is right after the holidays and it’s a little bit of a wake-up call.

“We have had some difficult Fridays and now it’s up to us to turn the situation around.

“For sure, it was not an easy day. FP1 was extremely difficult. FP2 was slightly better but still very far off where we want to be.

“I don’t expect to fully turn the situation because I think McLaren is in a league of its own with Aston Martin in what was a surprise for us. We will try to improve the car because there is plenty to be done.”

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Most pressing on that list is finding a solution to the SF-25’s lack of pace.

Leclerc notably lost time at the Turn 1 right-hander and also the Turn 9 right-hander, and confirmed there were two corners that cost him most of his deficit to Norris.

Worryingly, though, he and Ferrari were unsure as to why.

“We are losing basically 90 per cent of the time we lose in two corners,” he said, although he did not confirm which two corners he was referring to. “There’s something our car cannot do at the moment and we are trying to find out why it’s so concentrated in two corners.

“Normally, that’s never the case. We will try to find a solution for these two corners.”

Despite Ferrari’s struggles on Friday, the Monegasque driver is refusing to rule out a fightback in qualifying, although he accepts it won’t be easy.

“It’s a very strange season. I would never have said I would be on pole in Budapest,” he said.

“I don’t want to have a target because after a difficult weekend, it’s not an exciting targets but I’m looking forward to trying to turn the situation [around] and to make a miracle but it is not going to be an easy weekend for us.”

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