During the brief Q1 session, Leclerc reported over the radio that he had a problem with his rear tire as he struggled to secure a consistent finish in qualifying.

After missing his first flyer, Leclerc was under pressure to secure a Q2 seat in the final seconds of the race, but he finished just 19th, while team-mate Carlos Sainz finished fourth. Achievement promotion.

After the race, Leclerc said he did not know what went wrong with his Ferrari through Barcelona’s left-hand corner in the first quarter.

“I don’t have an answer. At the moment, the only thing I can say is that it’s impossible to drive on the left,” he said.

“Through the right-hand corner it feels very similar to this morning, but in the left-hand corner there is something we need to analyze and understand because it’s far from what I expected.”

Leclerc initially thought he had a problem with his tyres, but the problem persisted in his second set, confusing him as he was free from any problems in Saturday morning’s third free practice session.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23

Photography: Mark Sutton/ motorsport pictures

“I thought it was a tire problem in the first set, but then we did the second set and it felt exactly the same,” he added.

“I just didn’t have grip in the left-hand corner at the back, so we’ll check the car and I’d be very surprised if everything is fine.

“Even in the rough conditions this morning, I feel really good about the car, so something is not right.”

As Sainz went on to finish second behind Max Verstappen, in front of an ecstatic Spanish crowd, Leclerc revealed the strange behavior of his car nearly crashed him.

“I had a lot of moments, even during the first red flag, where I almost lost it and threw it into the gravel in the left-hand corner,” he explained.

“It’s very, very strange behavior, so we have to check the car.”