2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Practice & Qualifying Thread

[KimiBot]

Vasseur: "We're satisfied with the updates we've brought because we're paving the way for future development. We seem to have improved in terms of race pace but tomorrow will be the real test. But I'm quite optimistic."

Nice, thanks Nani.

[jgonzalesm6]

Spanish race, Spanish sponsor, Spanish driver.......coincidence maybe?

[Greig]

Spanish race, Spanish sponsor, Spanish driver.......coincidence maybe?

[wisepie]

I despair for Charles and the season he's having. The championship is irrelevant now, but any progress made from the upgrades is welcome and something that helps race pace and tyre deg is vital. If it rains tomorrow, it probably won't show and Charles starting from the pitlane is the safest option. He deserves so much more from his side of the garage. Well done Carlos for P2, anyway.

[paolo lalli]

Charles has to keep his head down and drive.I do not believe there was an issue with the car.Perez is way back also with the same car as max.i admire Charles but a good tradesman having a bad day can not blame his tools.Time for Charles to start having a good long look at himself and remind his mojo. Charles can have a great race from 19th and really test the car ,you never know what can happen safety cars etc.It rests firmly in his corner.

[PURE PASSION]

Charles has to keep his head down and drive.I do not believe there was an issue with the car.Perez is way back also with the same car as max.i admire Charles but a good tradesman having a bad day can not blame his tools.Time for Charles to start having a good long look at himself and remind his mojo. Charles can have a great race from 19th and really test the car ,you never know what can happen safety cars etc.It rests firmly in his corner.

I struggle VERY MUCH to believe that CHARLES LECLERC has qualified 2nd to last on dry conditions just by his performance !!!!!!! And 1s behind his teammate !!! Somethibg MUST have gone wrong. He is one of the best qualifiers of all time in term on pure talent/instinct on 1lap. There is NO way that he could done 1 goodish lap on 2 tries with new tires. IF nothing wil be found wrong with his car ,it will be probably the worst lap ever made in F1 (counting driver-car capabilities)

[tifosi1993]

Spanish race, Spanish sponsor, Spanish driver.......coincidence maybe?

But Italian team, French TP.

Posts like these are beyond ridiculous.

[ferrari1.8t]

Spanish race, Spanish sponsor, Spanish driver.......coincidence maybe?

Not a coincidence in my opinion. Definitely sabotage.

Santander wants to make sure Charles doesn’t bother their spicy boy. He needs all the help he can get.

Watch the on boards of Leclerc, that car wasn’t even safe to drive, let alone qualify. If Ferrari knew there was an issue in FP3 why didn’t they investigate before qualifying? These guys are disgrace.

Ferrari and Santander are getting ripped on all socials, rightfully so.

[tifosi1993]

I will be satisfied if we can regularly fight for wins and championships. If you are ok with being second, an upgraded design philosophy, which arrived only in Barcelona and not the beginning of the season, that’s on you. The present says that we are way off Pole, and way off the needed race pace to win a race in 2023.

It's not about being "Ok" or not. It's about progress and whether the team is making improvements and trying to gain the pace that has been lost since the introduction of TD39. A lot depends on this year's development because it will transfer to next year's car as well. They need to bring upgrades and make a step forward with each of those updates, as they did with this one.

[tifosi1993]

Not a coincidence in my opinion. Definitely sabotage.

Santander wants to make sure Charles doesn’t bother their spicy boy. He needs all the help he can get.

Watch the on boards of Leclerc, that car wasn’t even safe to drive, let alone qualify. If Ferrari knew there was an issue in FP3 why didn’t they investigate before qualifying? These guys are disgrace.

Ferrari and Santander are getting ripped on all socials, rightfully so.

It was down to Charles's side of the garage and the blame must fall fully on his incompetent race engineer. He did complain in FP3 about the rear and changed some diff settings. Clearly it made the car worse as it was evident from his onboard. But it has nothing to with Santander or any other ridiculous conspiracies.

Charles should/must ask for another race engineer and more experienced mechanics, something he should've done a long time ago.

[brucewayne]

It's not about being "Ok" or not. It's about progress and whether the team is making improvements and trying to gain the pace that has been lost since the introduction of TD39. A lot depends on this year's development because it will transfer to next year's car as well. They need to bring upgrades and make a step forward with each of those updates, as they did with this one.

This should have been at the beginning of the season, fully switch to a concept which suits TD039. We missed the target, and all we got is a semi solution. We will fully switch next year, and use the year to learn. Which should have been the case this year. So it will be 2025 until we fully understand this concept. And 2026 there will be new rules, so you see my problem with being ok with the current status.

[paolo lalli]

Well if Charles has an incompetent race engineer then **** him off.Ferrari have the responsibility to have the best personal available for our drivers obviously ferrari struggle with getting rid of incompetent personal.As a matter of fact Charles should demand his sacking if this is the case.This race engineer in his garage crap has gone on way to long end this farce .

[PURE PASSION]

| Ferrari statement on Charles Leclerc’s car:

Due to the Parc Fermé regulation, as far as Charles' car is concerned, they are not able to carry out more checks tonight. Information will arrive tomorrow morning.

-so ferrari prefers to TRY and find the issue tomorrow instead of finding it today, fixing it and making sure charles doesn't have any big issues for the race?

-So Ferrari had to stop inspecting Leclerc's car due to Parc Fermé limitations...

... which begs the question, what's a pitlane start when you NEED to detect whatever issue that car might have had BEFORE the race, which might very well cause them to break Parc Fermé anyway? ��*♀️
-Seriously, Leclerc leaves P19 tomorrow with his Ferrari. For a place, it is better to change as many elements as possible on the car. I don't understand the attitude of the team on this point. That's the lesser of it. But I no longer have words to qualify these people.

team statement ,and some comments from Twitter.
I leave it here ,because im gonna say bad words !!!!

[Kyss4k]

Ok, I just watched some onboards and I couldn't see any issue in left hand turns. The only one Charles kept mentioning was the exit out of turn 10 by which I am pretty sure he ment the snap he was getting on the damp patch. His engineer NEVER told him everyone struggled there because it was damp. Not once. The pace was just bad evereywhere, he took every turn like if it was wet. Slow downshifts, first finished the shifts only then started to turn the wheel etc. Comparing that to Verstappen or even Carlos, their downshifts were like a machinegun and they did not fear to downshift while turning into turn 7. The last corner and corner number 9 (both right handed btw) Charles lifted waaaay more than others. Looks like lack of overall grip or confidence in the car.

Xavi should be sacked ASAP though. That guy is just awful.

[brucewayne]

-so ferrari prefers to TRY and find the issue tomorrow instead of finding it today, fixing it and making sure charles doesn't have any big issues for the race?

-So Ferrari had to stop inspecting Leclerc's car due to Parc Fermé limitations...

... which begs the question, what's a pitlane start when you NEED to detect whatever issue that car might have had BEFORE the race, which might very well cause them to break Parc Fermé anyway? ��*♀️
-Seriously, Leclerc leaves P19 tomorrow with his Ferrari. For a place, it is better to change as many elements as possible on the car. I don't understand the attitude of the team on this point. That's the lesser of it. But I no longer have words to qualify these people.

team statement ,and some comments from Twitter.
I leave it here ,because im gonna say bad words !!!!

Honest question: does anything of this does suprise anyone?

Ferrari is an incompetent team, that’s the current status. Who knows when people will respect them again. Right know, we are the walking laughing stock of F1.

[tifosi1993]

-so ferrari prefers to TRY and find the issue tomorrow instead of finding it today, fixing it and making sure charles doesn't have any big issues for the race?

-So Ferrari had to stop inspecting Leclerc's car due to Parc Fermé limitations...

... which begs the question, what's a pitlane start when you NEED to detect whatever issue that car might have had BEFORE the race, which might very well cause them to break Parc Fermé anyway? ��*♀️
-Seriously, Leclerc leaves P19 tomorrow with his Ferrari. For a place, it is better to change as many elements as possible on the car. I don't understand the attitude of the team on this point. That's the lesser of it. But I no longer have words to qualify these people.

team statement ,and some comments from Twitter.
I leave it here ,because im gonna say bad words !!!!

What Ferrari statement? I haven't seen anything on their twitter feed. Post the direct link of Ferrari's statement.

[PURE PASSION]

What Ferrari statement? I haven't seen anything on their twitter feed. Post the direct link of Ferrari's statement.

Ι found it here : https://twitter.com/FanaticsFerrari/...034988544?s=20
and it was refering to this: https://twitter.com/SmilexTech/statu...496394240?s=20

[tifosi1993]

Ι found it here : https://twitter.com/FanaticsFerrari/...034988544?s=20
and it was refering to this: https://twitter.com/SmilexTech/statu...496394240?s=20

So not an official statement from Ferrari. Just Formu1a.uno running their own statements as Ferrari's.
It's better to check the facts before posting.

[PURE PASSION]

So not an official statement from Ferrari. Just Formu1a.uno running their own statements as Ferrari's.
It's better to check the facts before posting.

when they say that they read it /hear it from Ferrari , and and i read 4-5 posts on Twitter commenting on this, i didnt thought it was "fake", I still dont ( i hope it is) . When they post " Teams statement " ,i fiqure that the team had actuslly made an official statement.
They must have heard something to post something lke this. Usually Formu1a.uno dont make things upfrom their minds ,they have "people" inside.
And its not that the team havent used make such things !!!

[PURE PASSION]

The data shows that Charles Leclerc lost 2 tenths instantly in each left-hand corner, due to a problem with the car.

It is possible that all suspect parts on Charles' car will be replaced for the race, then checked in Maranello.

NOT FROM THE OFFICIAL FERRARI ACCOUNT !!!!!!!!

[Brembo]

Sainz up front 2nd place, Leclerc 19th place! I'm imagining Carlos with a win !

[jgonzalesm6]

Ferrari should put a new engine in and start from the box.
And lets see if they find a way to destroy the race of one of both drivers. They will for sure try their best.

Agreed. We are on race 6. These components have a 6k to 7k lifespan. Start on a fresh engine IF Leclerc starts from the pitlane.

Ferrari should break curfew tonight to see what's wrong with Leclerc's car(if anything is wrong with Leclerc's car) and change anything or all components and start fresh out of the pitlane regardless.

[PURE PASSION]

So not an official statement from Ferrari. Just Formu1a.uno running their own statements as Ferrari's.
It's better to check the facts before posting.

Now i read this

In the evening, the Scuderia Ferrari issued the following official statement: “Regarding Charles Leclerc’s car, we will not be able to conduct an inspection tonight due to the Parc Fermé regulations. Further information will be provided in the morning.”

https://scuderiafans.com/ferrari-par...23-spanish-gp/

[Brembo]

I remember Sainz doing a 18th place to a win! Let's hope Charles can come from behind and win or do a podium.Ferarri needs the points!

[patrese86]

Decent from Carlos. Quali pace doesn't quite seem there when you look at the gap to max but maybe that's partly max and partly change in direction maybe sacrificing some pace on a Saturday, we will have to see how we hold up during the race.

If we get rain a safety cars then anything is possible for Charles but he needs a lot of luck, no idea why they haven't pulled the car apart If he's in P19 anyway. Why wait for today!

[Aviamata]

Just accept penalty , P19 and pitlane are the same .

[Brembo]

Spanish race, Spanish sponsor, Spanish driver.......coincidence maybe?

Gonzales , Spanish member !

[Lesky]

Lewis Hamilton needs to apologize to George Russell for their clash, according to Nico Rosberg

https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-...-nico-rosberg?

[jgonzalesm6]

Gonzales , Spanish member !

Okay, ya got me there. I gave it a shot........

[jgonzalesm6]

Leclerc's car update this morning.

Charles Leclerc will start today's race from the pit lane, according to Ferrari's Jock Clear: "We've taken the opportunity to change the gearbox, that's effectively all the backend, really to make sure there's nothing on there that is untoward."

Charles Leclerc will start from the pitlane today. He wasn't happy with the car yesterday so the team has changed his gearbox and hence whole rear end. Other spec changes, presumably to give him more chance to overtake, have also been made.