Charles Leclerc SLAMS fellow drivers after Singapore GP 'JUNGLE'

Leclerc in Singapore — Photo: © LAT Images

Singapore Grand Prix

Leclerc SLAMS fellow drivers after Singapore GP 'JUNGLE'

The Monagasque driver wasn't happy with some of the behaviour on display in qualifying

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 17 September 2023 07:57

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Charles Leclerc has criticised his fellow Formula 1 drivers for making the final sector a 'jungle' during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Monagasque driver managed to put his car into third on the grid for Sunday's race, whilst his team-mate Carlos Sainz put his Ferrari on pole position, putting the team in a great place to win their first race since the 2022 Austrian GP.

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At times during the qualifying session, however, there was a lot of traffic gathering around turns 16-19 in the final sector of the circuit, as cars scrambled for the best position before starting a flying lap.

This has led to steward investigations for a number of drivers for impeding, including Max Verstappen. Leclerc was not happy with some of his fellow drivers for breaking what he calls a 'gentlemen's agreement.'

“I struggle with the last sector, but it's nothing new," he told Danika Patrick after qualifying.

"I've been struggling with this car for the whole season. I always need to be quite aggressive, and sometimes I push too much. At the same time, we need to see the bigger picture, and we're in a better position than we were, for example, in Zandvoort.

”It's like the jungle on the third sector now. We always had this 'gentleman agreement' between drivers where you shouldn't overtake in the last sector. Unfortunately, a few drivers didn't follow that rule this season, and then it was chaos at some point because no one is following that 'agreement' anymore.”

Ferrari looking strong

Ferrari have looked fast all weekend long in Singapore

It's looked like Ferrari have had the pace all weekend to beat the dominant Red Bull, particularly over one lap.

However, few expected it to be Mercedes and McLaren challenging them for pole position, and that Red Bull would be completely out of the picture.

Neither Verstappen nor his team-mate Sergio Perez were able to make it out of Q2, making it a straight fight between three other teams for top spot.

Sainz came out on top to claim his second consecutive pole position, but Leclerc will certainly feel like he's in the mix for victory tomorrow, particularly with Verstappen and Perez having so much traffic to overcome.