Charles Leclerc explains why he made so many mistakes at Bahrain Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc blamed a brake balance issue behind his numerous mistakes during the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver was able to guide his car to fourth in Sakhir but, having started second, he would have hoped for much more.

Charles Leclerc explains Bahrain GP brake issues

Not only was he passed by Sergio Perez but also his team-mate Carlos Sainz as he regularly struggled with locking up and going wide.

Of the front runners, it was Leclerc who struggled the most with grip during the race as he repeatedly locked up into corners and allowed those behind him to pass.

The problem did not go unnoticed with the driver frequently telling race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros of his issues while also describing it as a “f**king dangerous car” at one point.

Speaking after the race was over, Leclerc said a brake balance issue was the reason behind his problems.

“I couldn’t go round Turns 9, 10 for the first 10 laps,” he said. “I was having crazy brake balances to the rears and I would lock up every lap and I was making big changes.

“So it’s been a very, very frustrating race because I was waiting for this race for a long time. I wanted to show what we were capable of.

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“And at the end, we cannot show anything on my side because we were completely out of place with brake balance, race pace and the car in general wasn’t where I wanted it to be.”

Despite having the issue early on, Leclerc was not able to shake the brake problem and said he was coping with it for the entire race.

“I was managing it the entire time,” the 26-year-old said. “In the first 10 laps, it got much worse every lap so that’s why I did so many mistakes.

“Basically, I was always trying to anticipate the brake but whenever I was anticipating the brake, the issue was bigger and so I was looking up again. After 10 laps it stabilised so at least I knew that there was an issue and I knew what to expect, but it still felt horrible.”

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