Charles Leclerc says Ferrari is still in the dark over the reasons for his stunning Q1 exit in Barcelona last time out, an enigma that he admits is "a little bit worrying".
Leclerc was unexpectedly bumped out of the first segment of qualifying in Spain while his Scuderia teammate breezed through to eventually secure in Q3 a spot on the front row alongside poleman Max Verstappen.
A baffled Leclerc later spoke of his car's "strange behaviour" which led Ferrari to replace the entire rear end of the Monegasque's SF-23 for race day.
But two weeks on from the setback, Leclerc says his team has still not gotten to the bottom of the issue that impacted his machine in Spain.
And that is an understandable source of concern for the five-time Grand Prix winner ahead of this weekend's race in Montreal.
"We need to understand these things," he said. "And for now, we don’t have the reason. So, this is a little bit more worrying.
"And that’s where we need to push and try to understand the reason for it. Because obviously, the feeling was really bad."
Leclerc said his car's mysterious handling issue manifested itself mainly in the left-hand corners.
"To be honest, it’s the first time that it has happened in my career," he added.
"I mean, if I look at the left hand corners, that’s where I was struggling, I said it straight away after qualifying. And we can see that on data clearly, I’m losing six and a half or seven tenths, in all the left hand corners.
"But there are no real reasons for it yet. So, for now I cannot say much more to be honest."
Leclerc's concerns come at a time when team and driver are making every effort to turn around their season.
So far, the Monegasque's confidence towards his team remains intact. But deep down, a sense of frustration is likely slowly building.
"We just need to keep pushing, try and bring upgrades as quickly as possible and regularly, which is our aim now to try and close the gap with the guys in front and also close the gap especially in terms of race pace," said Leclerc.
"Even though I struggled a lot in qualifying on Saturday, the Sunday wasn’t great either. And if we look at Carlos he had a great Saturday, but then on Sunday we struggled again with race pace.
"So that’s where we are trying to push at the moment.
"What gives me confidence, though, is that there’s a clear direction in where we want to work and improve. And this is what makes me believe in the project."
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