“We are Losing Quite a Lot” – Charles Leclerc Seeks Answers After Ferrari’s disaster in Austin Q3

Charles Leclerc is looking for answers from Ferrari after a disappointing end to Saturday’s qualifying session at the United States Grand Prix in Austin. Ferrari appeared to be in a strong position heading into qualifying, but the team struggled to translate its promising pace into a front-row challenge.

Leclerc, who finished fourth, expressed disappointment with Ferrari’s inability to extract more performance from the car in Q3.

“As soon as you go into Q3 and you go and push for the last one-hundredths or two-hundredths per corner, that’s where maybe the issues of the car, the balance issues that you are having, are standing out a little bit more,” Leclerc told ESPN.

“And for us it’s very much on a knife-edge, and as soon as we start going a little bit over then we are losing quite a lot of lap time.”

Ferrari’s Qualifying Drop-Off After Dominant Practice Sessions

Ferrari dominated all three practice sessions, with Leclerc topping FP1 and FP2, and Lewis Hamilton leading FP3. It raised expectations for the team ahead of qualifying. Leclerc carried that momentum into Q2, setting the fastest lap time of 1:34.198s.

However, neither Ferrari driver could maintain that level of performance when it mattered most in the final qualifying session. Leclerc finished fourth, while Hamilton settled for fifth after Q3 at the Circuit of the Americas.

Mercedes Kimi Antonelli earned pole position for the United States GP, ahead of Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar to set the fastest qualifying time. It marked the Italian’s seventh pole of the season.

The 20-year-old driver has now put himself in a strong position to become the youngest F1 world champion.  

“We Fall Short of What We Expected”: Charles Leclerc Raises Concerns About Q3 Performance

The Ferrari driver admitted that the team’s qualifying performance has repeatedly fallen short of expectations, particularly in the most crucial Q3 session.

“It’s difficult to say, I mean I haven’t driven other cars as well, but as a tendency I feel like it’s very often the case that we get to Q3 and we fall short of what we expected when we expect to go and gain a tenth and a half in Q3,” Leclerc said.

“We sometimes struggle to get that, so it’s an assumption more than a certainty”

Watch Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in action for the United States GP on Sunday, October 25 at 3 pm local time.

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Written by

Yash Soni

Yash Soni is a Formula 1 writer with over four years of experience in digital sports journalism. He specializes in F1 news, race analysis, team updates, and paddock stories. With a strong focus on accuracy, research, and SEO-driven storytelling, he aims to deliver engaging and informative coverage that keeps motorsport fans up to date with the latest developments in Formula 1.

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