Hey,
About 15-20 races ago I started experiencing that on single laps (practice and quali) and also in the first ~5 laps of my stints, my pace is just nowhere near the potential. I'm having bad qualis and losing positions in the first few laps even to those who are generally slower than me. I often find myself in P15-20 after 2-3 laps even though I'm top 10 within the league, so the rest of my race is just me trying to salvage as much as I can by being faster in the later halves of my stints to finish around P7-10.
This happens no matter the circumstances. Slow track or fast track, softer or harder tyres, low or high fuel load, beginning of season with new car or fully upgraded car... my driver is not the best yet, but based on description neither of the traits should cause this effect, so I don't think it's him.
What can be the issue here?