Leclerc's Issues During First Race Were So Bad, Even His Team Principal 'Wasn't Optimistic'
F1Tuesday, 05 March 2024 at 19:30
Fred Vasseur discussed the reliability issues that hindered Charles Leclerc's progress during the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Ferrari F1 driver finished in fourth place behind his teammate Carlos Sainz during the first race of the 2024 season that took place at Bahrain International Circuit.
However, it wasn't at all smooth sailing for the Monegasque driver. He is said to have lost around six tenths per each of the first 15-20 laps of the Grand Prix because of issues with his braking system. Vasseur told the media:
"We had again, too many issues during the weekend. We need to fix the issue on Charles's car with the brakes."
Leclerc lost two positions throughout a few opening laps and almost crashed into the back of George Russell's car when he locked up the brakes going into turn 10.
"But I think overall he did a very good job, and then from the pitwall also, because we were able to manage the situation to save P4 in these conditions. Honestly, during the first stint when I saw the situation, I was not very optimistic."
The 26-year-old driver said he understood it would be a very long race when his engineer told him the temperature difference between his front left, and right brakes were more than 100 degrees. Vasseur confirmed it was challenging to fix the problem.
"We had a huge delta of temperature between left and right. It was pulling on the braking, and locking, and it was very difficult to fix it."
Fortunately, the team somehow fixed the issue, which allowed Leclerc to maintain his P4 position, at least in which he later crossed the finish line. The team principal added:
"And at one stage it came back when he was in the slipstream of someone. The brakes switched on, and the last part of the race was OK."
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