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F1 fans were sympathetic with Charles Leclerc after the Monegasque driver's lackluster qualifying session at Suzuka Circuit in Japan on Saturday.
While impressive, Charles Leclerc's 2024 campaign has seen him being overshadowed by departing teammate Carlos Sainz. Coming off a stellar victory in Melbourne, the Spaniard was once again the better Ferrari driver during the qualifying session for Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.
Leclerc found himself grappling with grip issues, qualifying a disappointing eighth after running out of sync with his rivals in Q3. His challenge was compounded by quickly burning through his soft tires, leaving him struggling for pace. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz secured the P4 position for Sunday's race.
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Reflecting on his car's performance during the qualifying session, Leclerc told formula1.com:
"These are one of those races where, when it's the case, normally it's more the grip available from the car. But I don't quite have the explanation for why we will have less grip, why I will struggle quite a lot more compared to Carlos until Q3, where maybe I was in a bit of a better shape."
Fans took to social media platforms to voice their support for Leclerc in the wake of his disappointment. One user commented on X (formerly Twitter):
"Heart Breaking"
A second fan commented:
"26 years and has wasted his career so far"
Another user added:
"This is emotional abuse now for Charles… poor Charles.."
Below are some more fan-reactions to Charles Leclerc's words after the Japanese GP qualifying:
"May well be a better day for him tomorrow," wrote a user.
"Always gets a podium this one. Just wait," added a fan.
"Data will help Ferrari for the race... should be a podium finish," predicted a user.
"He ain’t happy, they’re making him lose points over silly errors," said another fan.
"Definitely Ferrari has fired his first driver for 2025," chimmed in another user.
Charles Leclerc "not happy" with slow car in Suzuka
In the post-qualifying interview, Leclerc reiterated his dissatisfaction with his car's performance. He said via the aforementioned source:
"It's not good, obviously. Especially on a qualifying like this, where, if I rely on the feeling, the feeling is pretty good. If I look at the lap times after that, it's a disaster."
Despite his frustrations, Charles Leclerc remained determined to address the issues plaguing his performance. He added:
"But overall, I have struggled a lot. So nothing off, no mistakes, just slow. And, yeah, I'm not happy with this, of course. We will have to look into it and try and understand what was going wrong with the tyres and why the grip available was not as high as what I expected."
After three races, Charles Leclerc is ranked fourth in the F1 drivers' standings. The Ferrari driver has 47 points to his name, four less than reigning three-time champion Max Verstappen.
