Charles Leclerc was losing more than half a second per lap due to mechanical problems during the Bahrain Grand Prix, according to Formu1a.uno.
Leclerc, who finished the race in fourth after starting alongside Red Bull driver Max Verstappen on the front row, struggled with brake issues.
And it’s now emerged that those issues put a huge dent in his pace for a significant portion of the Grand Prix.
Leclerc lost positions to George Russell and Sergio Perez in the early phase of the race, and was also passed by teammate Carlos Sainz.
While he was able to force Russell into an error late on, he missed out on a podium spot to Sainz.
Leclerc complained over the radio that he was experiencing front locking ‘everywhere’ and called the situation ‘dangerous’.
At one stage, he nearly collided with the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber car of Valtteri Bottas after snatching a brake at turn 10.
Bahrain issues cost Charles Leclerc six tenths per lap
The data apparently shows that Leclerc was losing six tenths for up to the first 20 laps of the race, relative to the potential of his car.
The issue eased in the final stint when the car had burned off most of its fuel, enabling the Monegasque to mount his attack on Russell.
Leclerc finished just under 40 seconds behind Verstappen, and more than 14 seconds adrift of Sainz.
Leclerc and Ferrari aim for cleaner weekend
Leclerc can take some encouragement heading into this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, knowing that there’s much more speed in his car.
He was also the fastest driver in Friday’s qualifying session, having beaten Verstappen’s eventual pole time by a hundredth of a second in Q2.
The challenge now for both team and driver is putting everything together to understand the SF-24’s full potential.
1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill has called for Leclerc to take more ‘responsibility’ for his team’s strategy calls.
The 26-year-old will hope to return to the top step of the podium this year, with his last win coming at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix.
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