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Approaching the mid-point of his debut season in F2, Arthur Leclerc continues to focus on his qualifying performance – something often perceived as his key area for improvement.
Arthur Leclerc moved to DAMS for the 2023 F2 season, having spent his entire F3 career with PREMA. (Image Credit: @damsracing on Twitter)22-year-old Leclerc remained in the F3 championship fight into the final round last season, in a year of what might have been.
In addition to a string of disappointing results during the season-ending triple-header, qualifying proved to be a thorn in the side of the Ferrari Academy junior.
On a critical weekend at the penultimate round in Zandvoort, where overtaking is notoriously difficult, Leclerc qualified P20 and was unable to score points in either race.
The Monegasque has developed a reputation in the F1 support paddock for his blistering race pace and ability to carve through the field.
It’s a skill perhaps necessitated by sometimes less-than-stellar qualifying performances, but it shows the potential of Leclerc, who has the race craft and management to fight for junior category titles.
? RED FLAG ?
Arthur Leclerc hits the wall!!!!
The Monegasque driver's Qualifying has come to an early end….?
He's out of the car, but understandably heartbroken #MonacoGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/QwKGwpur0N
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) May 26, 2023
The missing weapon from his arsenal very much appears to be his ability to put a lap together when it counts, without making a critical error. Adding one-lap pace to his armoury may prove the difference maker, revolutionising his fortunes in the process.
Disparity in numbers
In his maiden F3 season in 2021, Leclerc averaged a qualifying position of 13.1, with a feature race average finish of P9 (excluding retirements). The trend of moving forward in races continued in 2022, with an improved qualifying average too, coming in at 10.5 to an average finish of P7.
After making the switch from PREMA to DAMS, so far this season, Leclerc has been overshadowed by his more F2-experienced and highly touted teammate, Ayumu Iwasa.
Whilst the Japanese driver currently sits P3 in the championship, with three wins and 82 points, Leclerc is 10 places back, with a single podium and 36 points.
In the first six rounds, Leclerc’s qualifying average has increased slightly to 12.3, but his feature race average has remained consistent, at 7.2. This shows that he’s working through the pack even more efficiently this year, despite making the step up to F2.
Unlocking Qualifying
The younger brother of Ferrari driver Charles, Arthur has proven able to string a series of good qualifying performances together in the past.
Last season, across the Silverstone-Austria-Hungary stretch, he lined up for the feature races in P2, P4, and P4. Those circuits make up the next three rounds of the 2023 F2 calendar.
However, when he’s not in the top five, Leclerc has a tendency to find himself starting down the order. Of the nine F3 rounds last year, three times he qualified P20 or below.
Speaking with accredited journalists ahead of this weekend’s round at the Red Bull Ring, FormulaNerds asked Leclerc about whether qualifying had received specific attention in the month following the previous round, in Barcelona, where Leclerc himself highlighted that his Friday pace didn’t always match his race pace:
“Yeah, of course, I focus a bit more on qualifying. I mean, anyway, I always really put a lot of work [in] during the offseason, so I think this thing didn’t really change from the beginning of the season,” he said.
“Yeah, unfortunately, like you said, the result isn’t really what I expected and it’s not really showing the work I am doing in the background, that I’m working flat out.
“Obviously, we saw that the qualifying is not our strength, so we put more effort on it, we put a bit more focus on this in the simulator, as well in my way to train and everything.
“So hopefully we’ll be able to make the step this weekend.”
Featured Image Credit: @damsracing on Twitter