'We're doing something wrong' – Leclerc perplexed by his and Ferrari's Spanish GP struggles

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BARCELONA, SPAIN - JUNE 03: 19th Placed qualifier Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari walks in

Charles Leclerc has implored Ferrari to understand what they are doing wrong with their car after the Monegasque finished this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in 11th – his third point-less outing of the season.

Leclerc endured a tough weekend in Barcelona as he struggled with the rear of his car in qualifying, leading to him being knocked out in Q1 for the first time since the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix.

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Ferrari then opted to change the rear of his car – seeing them start the race from the pit lane – but the changes did not yield much success, as Leclerc finished 12th on the road, although he gained a place after Yuki Tsunoda’s five-second time penalty.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, a frustrated Leclerc said: “I don’t understand what we are doing wrong, but we are doing something wrong.

"I went from the first hard to a second hard in the last stint, did exactly the same thing and the car is behaving in a completely different way.

2023 Spanish GP Qualifying: Huge shock in Barcelona as Leclerc is knocked out in Q1

“And we have to obviously understand, work, but we really need to now, because it’s been a few races we have been struggling with the conditions or having a very picky car and today was no better.”

When asked if he had a better feeling in the car in Sunday’s race compared to qualifying, Leclerc replied: “I did. The limitations where the opposite. [Saturday] I could not drive.

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"I had a rear that was super loose and super strange, we will analyse all of this at the factory, which has not been done yet.

“[Sunday] was mostly the front where the issue was, so the limitations were completely different. The feeling was a little bit better today, on the second and third stint was quite a bit better. The first stint was really bad, but I think that was tyre related.”

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