Leclerc shoulders blame for Q3 crash

Charles Leclerc says he is ashamed to have thrown away a shot at pole position after crashing heavily in Q3.

Leclerc had been just 0.053s slower than eventual pole-getter George Russell at the end of Q2, and with a decisive gap to the other teams and to teammate Lewis Hamilton, he looked likely to contend for pole position.

His pole bid ended less than four minutes into the session, however, when an attempt to correct a slide at Turn 4 ended with him spearing into the barriers in a heavy impact, ending his afternoon on the spot and leaving him 10th on the grid.

“I tried to release the brakes earlier, trying to carry more speed, as I knew it was the main weakness, if not the only weakness, because we were very fast in all corners,” Leclerc explained. “I tried to carry more speed in, worked out, but then I went on traction on the dirty side of the track and lost the rear. There's not much to excuse myself.”

Hamilton (pictured above checking in with his teammate after qualifying) carried the baton to qualify second, just 0.064s off pole.

Leclerc has been struggling with brakes for several rounds. Just last Sunday he crashed out of the Monaco Grand Prix because of what he described as ineffectual brakes. For this weekend the Ferrari driver is trialing a switch to Carbon Industrie brake disks after Hamilton successfully lobbied to have his Brembo disks swapped out earlier this year.

Leclerc denied that the change in brake material had played a role in his crash, however, noting instead that he had felt more confident hitting the brake pedal this weekend.

“Honestly, I adapted very well straight from FP2,” he said. “I felt very at ease with it, and there's nothing of that; there's no excuses on trying to find a reference or whatsoever.

“I feel very ashamed after the last three weekends that have been particularly difficult for me to find pace for issues I had, and today and this weekend I think everything felt really, really good.

“In these days I need to deliver, and I didn't, so I felt very ashamed in general.”

The distraught Leclerc wasn’t completely downcast, however. Ferrari brought a major upgrade package to the car this weekend that appears to have drawn it much closer to the Mercedes on pace at a circuit that sternly tests aerodynamic performance.

Leclerc believes the new parts will give him a chance to score healthy points on Sunday to make up for his crash.

“[The car] felt good, the upgrade was a significant step forward, so that was good,” he said. “I think we can come back. I'm optimistic for tomorrow, but for now the [disappointment] of qualifying is all I can think of.