Charles Leclerc cut a dejected figure after qualifying for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, admitting he felt “ashamed” after throwing away a promising result with a crash that continued a painful run of mistakes and missed opportunities.
Just one week after crashing out of a podium position in his home race in Monaco, the Ferrari driver suffered another major setback when he spun into the barriers during Q3, leaving himself stranded in 10th place on the grid.
The incident came at Turn 4, where Leclerc drifted onto the dustier outside line while pushing for a fast lap. The loss of grip instantly sent the Ferrari into a spin and into the wall, bringing an abrupt end to what had looked like one of his strongest weekends in months.
No excuses this time
The latest disappointment was particularly difficult for Leclerc to accept because, unlike recent weekends, he felt he finally had a car capable of fighting near the front.
After blaming brake issues for last weekend's Monaco accident, the Monegasque switched to a setup similar to team-mate Lewis Hamilton's in Spain and immediately felt more comfortable behind the wheel.
But when asked whether the brakes played any role in his Barcelona crash, Leclerc was emphatic.
“No, no, there's none of that,” he said. “I adapted very well straight from FP2, I felt very at ease with it, and there's nothing of that - there's no excuses.
“I felt very ashamed after the last three weekends that have been particularly difficult for me to find pace for issues I had.
“Today, and this weekend, I think everything felt really, really good and on these days I need to deliver and I didn't. So I felt very ashamed in general.”
The contrast inside Ferrari's garage only intensified the disappointment. While Leclerc was left staring at another damaged car, Hamilton delivered a superb lap to qualify second, putting himself in a prime position to further strengthen his advantage over his team-mate in the championship standings.
Turning promise into disaster
Leclerc later revealed that his accident stemmed from trying to compensate for what he believed was Ferrari's one notable weakness around the Barcelona circuit.
“I released the brakes earlier, I think we were close to being the fastest car every corner apart from Turn 4,” he told Sky F1.
“I knew it was a weakness, I knew I had to make everything perfect for that lap. I tried, but I obviously regret it and again I feel very much ashamed.”
The emotional toll of recent weeks was evident as Leclerc reflected on a difficult stretch of races.
“The last two races, Canada and Monaco, I was in a very tricky configuration to deal with, that didn't make it easy and Monaco ended the way it ended. That was already very difficult to take and accept, knowing that I could do little with it,” he added.
“But this weekend there was none of that. The car was great, the feeling with the car was amazing and I didn't deliver. If anything, it's a lot worse than that, I put it into the wall.
“So there's no excuses, I just feel ashamed.”
Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix - Qualifying resultsYet amid the disappointment, Leclerc found one reason for optimism.
“The only positive I can take is that the feeling that I have in the car is back and for tomorrow I feel optimistic. But I need to show that. I just need to do the perfect race,” he concluded;
After two crushing weekends in succession, Ferrari will hope Sunday's race offers Leclerc a chance at redemption. For now, however, the overriding feeling is one of frustration—and a driver blaming nobody but himself.
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