Charles Leclerc to start the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix from pit lane
After failing to advance out of Q1, Ferrari makes major changes to Leclerc’s SF-23
After a difficult qualifying session for Charles Leclerc, Ferrari has made major changes to his SF-23 ahead of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. Leclerc failed to advance out of Q1 and was slated to start 19th, but due to the changes made to his car overnight, the Ferrari driver will start from pit lane.
“We will have to check the car and look at the data as there was clearly something really odd about the way it behaved and it felt very different to the way it had throughout the weekend up to that point,” said Leclerc after qualifying.
“I basically had zero rear grip. The car was extremely oversteery and unpredictable. The car would be okay and suddenly it would snap away,” he added.
Ferrari tried to mitigate the conditions with a fresh set of tyres, but that failed to solve the issues he was having during qualifying.
“It was something to do with the rear right corner. At first I thought it was something to do with my first set of tyres, so we changed for a new set, but there was still this very strange behaviour from the rear tyres,” added Leclerc after qualifying.
Ferrari has decided to fit a new gearbox to his SF-23 for today’s Spanish Grand Prix, along with other new parts.
“Obviously qualifying on the back row has given us the unfortunate opportunity to look at a lot of things and consider,” Leclerc’s performance engineer Jock Clear told media yesterday.
“He was really uncomfortable with the car straight away in qualifying and had no confidence in the car. So we’ve taken the opportunity to change the gearbox,” added Clear. “That’s effectively all the back end, really just to make sure there is nothing on there that is untoward.”
In addition, Ferrari has fitted Leclerc’s SF-23 with a new energy store, as well as new control electronics. Both parts exceed the allotment for F1 drivers over the course of a season, however, with Leclerc already starting from pit lane, he will not face a further penalty for the change.
Leclerc currently sits seventh in the Drivers’ standings.