During qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix , Charles Leclerc asked Ferrari to give him a new helmet with “the darkest visor they had”, as drivers complained of visibility problems due to the late afternoon sun in Melbourne affecting your visual ability.
The setback arose because qualifying lasted more than half an hour in the afternoon due to two long red-flag periods in qualifying. One came after the accident between Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi in Q1, and the other was due to the crash of Fernando Alonso in Q3, to which it should be added that Alex Albon was stopped on the track when the flag had fallen to frames in the first round, further delaying the start of Q2.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen also complained that the sun made it difficult for them to see at the end of the second qualifying session.
The Monegasque, however, was able to take pole position, saying that in Q2 “they couldn’t see anything” because of the sunset, prompting him to order another helmet with a lighter visor.
Asked by Motorsport.com what difference that change had made, Leclerc replied: “Honestly, in Q2, on my first lap, I took a lot of risks because I had no idea where the edge of the track was.
“You’re just guessing, and with the pace of the weekend you know more or less where you have to turn. But I had no idea where that edge of the track was, and it was very complicated,” said Ferrari.
“So we went for a darker visor. I think in the first run of Q3 there were some clouds around so that was perfect,” explained Leclerc.
“And then for the last run of Q3, under braking into Turn 1, it was still very, very poor visibility. I don’t think we can do anything, even with the darker visor it’s still not enough, and it would stay dark the rest of the track where there were clouds”, continued the pilot who will start in the first position on Sunday in Australia.
“So we have to find the balance. In the end it’s the same for everyone, but it was extremely tricky, and the last sector also on the final lap of Q3 I lost a little bit, just because it was so hard to see where I was,” he said. world leader.
Sergio Pérez , who finished third behind Leclerc and Verstappen, stated that the “biggest” thing that influenced his performance in qualifying “was the sun”, adding: “It was going down a lot and it was getting dark, so we were playing a lot with the visors.”
“On my first attempt in Q3 it was completely dark, and there was no sun, so I came back, and then there was a lot of light. I didn’t do well with the visor,” concluded the Mexican.
