"I'm not going to lie, at the moment there is no miracle solution": Charles Leclerc despondent after a poor F1 Austrian GP sprint

After a poor sprint race at the 2024 F1 Austrian GP, Charles Leclerc feels that he could once again struggle in the main Grand Prix's qualifying session. The Monegasque finished P7 in the sprint race.

Charles Leclerc had a decent start to the 2024 F1 season as Ferrari started closing the gap to Red Bull. They faced a tough development battle with McLaren who started to improve as well. In Australia, Carlos Sainz managed to win his first race of the season, while Leclerc won his first race of the season on home soil at Monaco. From the Spanish GP, however, they started to experience a dip in performance.

Coming to Austria, Ferrari continued to struggle to fight for the top 3 steps. While Sainz managed to secure P5 for the sprint race, Leclerc encountered major issues with his car and had to settle for P10. In SQ3, his car stopped in the pit lane, losing all power.

In the sprint race, Leclerc had a decent start, as he gained a few positions. However, he remained stuck in P7 and had to manage the brake temperatures throughout the 23-lap sprint.

Speaking to the media after the sprint race, he explained how he had to lift and coast due to high brake temperatures, which prevented him from overtaking a few more cars. He then expressed a dull outlook on the Grand Prix's qualifying session, claiming that Ferrari won't be able to find a miraculous solution. Leclerc said (via @Vetteleclerc on X)

"The first lap was positive, it was more complicated afterwards because I had to manage the temperature of the brakes. The real problem is performance, we are in difficulty. Qualifying? I'm not going to lie, at the moment there is no miracle solution," Leclerc said.

---

Charles Leclerc in the dark regarding his car issues at the Austrian GP sprint qualifying

Charles Leclerc claimed that he was unaware of the issue his Ferrari SF-24 faced during the sprint qualifying at the Austrian GP.

When the Monegasque was heading out from the pits to set his SQ3's flying lap, his car suddenly stopped responding. This forced him to stand still in the pit lane for about 20 seconds before his team members arrived at the scene.

Speaking to F1.com, he said that he had no clue as to what happened to his car. He explained that after he went into anti-stall, everything simply stopped working. He concluded that the team would enlighten him after he returns to the garage.

"I don't know what happened. I was in the pit lane and I got the anti-stall and then everything switched off. I have… The team told me that we will speak when I’ll be back in the garage, but obviously I went straight from the car to here so I don’t know," Leclerc said.

After the Austrian GP sprint qualifying, Charles Leclerc stands in third place with 150 points in the drivers' championship table.