Leclerc apologizes to Ferrari for repair job after crash in practice

Charles Leclerc has apologized to his Ferrari team for the extensive repair work he gave them with his crash in second practice at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Jeddah track was highlighted as one that would punish mistakes due to its high-speed nature surrounded by walls as a street venue, but it was only five minutes before the end of FP2 that the first big error was made. Leclerc lost the rear at Turn 22, resulting in a big impact with the barrier that heavily damaged his car and brought the session to a premature end.

“A day that unfortunately didn’t end up the way I wanted, but overall we went thorough everything we wanted to test,” Leclerc said. “I think the potential is here and if we put everything together for tomorrow we should have a good day.

“But obviously I’m sorry for the team that will have to do big, big work for tomorrow for the car to be ready. Hopefully I will do a good enough job to thank them in the best way possible with a good result tomorrow.”

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1466839084639342597

The size of the impact meant Leclerc was checked at the FIA medical center at the circuit but he was cleared by the doctors a short time after the crash, and is free to drive on Saturday once the car is repaired.

Despite the huge damage caused, Ferrari’s inspections showed no sign of issues with either the chassis itself or the power unit, meaning it can use both on Saturday if needed.