Charles Leclerc has revealed his Ferrari was missing over 60 points of downforce when retiring from the Dutch Grand Prix. The Monégasque endured a miserable day at Zandvoort, triggered by contact on the opening lap with McLaren's Oscar Piastri as rain began to fall. Front wing damage wasn't repaired until his second pit stop as Leclerc plummeted through the field, lapping mostly outside the top 10 and coming under fire from Haas' Nico Hulkenberg and Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas. But when AlphaTauri debutant Liam Lawson made his way through for 15th on lap 41, Ferrari opted to retire Leclerc with the ailment more destructive than initially feared.
Leclerc's huge damage
"On the first lap when we had the damage, I could feel much more than the guys were telling me on the radio," Leclerc told media including RacingNews365.com . "I think initially it was five to 10 points [of downforce we were missing] but then we realised that it was more than 60. 'That is a different category, so after that first lap, it was all uphill. "We were just waiting for some rain, you can do something different than the other and maybe get one or two points, every point counts so we didn't want to give up too early. "It was such a slight touch, but for some reason, it had huge consequences for my car."
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