Last season, porpoising became a very common word in the Formula 1 vocabulary. This season, it’s been replaced by plain struggling. The struggle to match Red Bull. The struggle to keep up with Red Bull, and the struggle to just keep up. That’s been a problem for every team except Red Bull, even more so for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari. As soon as they sort one problem out, another one arises. As soon as Leclerc gets the hang of the SF-23, some other issue props up. 

The 2023 season has been a rollercoaster for Leclerc—one that has been on this slow uphill climb from the beginning and hasn’t reached its first crest yet. The SF-23 has improved throughout the year and has made gains to catch the RB19. It’s just that the problems are outweighing the solutions right now.

What is it about the SF-23 that has been troubling Charles Leclerc?

If Ferrari’s trajectory this season can be compared to any other team, it would be Mercedes. Both teams started their season on the back foot, but they have made significant progress since then. Even though Mercedes is ahead of Ferrari, the Scuderia has the upper hand in one area. Understanding it’s car. With the season almost over, the W14 is still a complete unknown to Mercedes. On the other hand, Ferrari has known its weaknesses since the beginning. But that doesn’t mean it’s been any easier for Leclerc & Co. At least that’s what the Monegasque said to The Race.

Ferrari hasn’t lived up to its expectations for the season. It’s far from them. While reflecting on its performances, Leclerc said, “We were, at least at the beginning of the year, super wind-sensitive. There were some off-examples like Baku, where the wind was quite high, but we were super strong [Leclerc was on pole and finished P3], which was difficult to understand. But then, as a general trend, we were struggling quite a lot. Even in one weekend, we could see a lot of very good sessions and also very difficult sessions.” 

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“That was very, very difficult for us because also, as a driver, it’s very difficult to set up the car in a particular way because you will get one car one session and a very different one the one after,” concluded Leclerc. While the car has performed differently at different tracks, that’s not the only thing bothering Leclerc. Although the inconsistencies in the SF-23 have affected the team’s performances, Leclerc shed light on the car’s difficult drivability as well.

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Ferrari’s updates have been hindering Leclerc to some extent

The entire season has been a game of catch-up for every team other than Red Bull. It’s been a development battle, a fight to bring upgrades that would considerably close the gap to Red Bull. In the first half of the season, because the updates were incremental, Leclerc’s performance wasn’t too affected. In fact, he was doing quite well. But after the summer break, he’s found the upgrades a lot more difficult to adapt to. On the other hand, his teammate Carlos Sainz has been doing quite well. 

Following Sainz’s Monza and Singapore exploits, Leclerc said, “I’m not completely comfortable with the car at the moment. There’s a bit too much understeer for my liking. I struggle to drive around it. So there’s a bit of work to do. But it’s, first of all, great to see that the competitiveness seems to be up there, that Carlos feels at ease.” Responding to Leclerc’s comments about the drivability, Sainz said, “Honestly, I don’t feel like the car has come anywhere near what I want or what I like. The car is still a tricky car to drive. It’s still a car that hasn’t given us an easy time this year.” 

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are finding it hard to adjust to their car. It’s been one battle after another for them, not against other teams, but against the SF-23. If Ferrari aims to do better next season, it needs to sort out these weaknesses before it’s too late.

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