Charles Leclerc’s challenging Canadian Grand Prix weekend started with a lack of practice time thanks to a crash, and it’s gotten worse with an eighth-place starting position in qualifying.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver lamented his performance in Q3, where he lost out on a shot for pole when he “f*cked it up completely.”

Charles Leclerc rues disappointing Canadian GP qualifying session

On just his third lap of practice in the opening session of the Canadian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc saw his day end in the wall.

The driver locked up in Turn 3, and Leclerc thought he might be able to graze the grass and keep his SF-25 on the track. Unfortunately, he cracked into the wall, and his left-front tyre rocketed back into his chassis. The safety cell of his car was damaged, meaning the Monegasque driver would need to sit out FP2 for repairs.

The good news on Friday night was that Leclerc had felt comfortable during those few laps, and he was able to carry that confidence into FP3 and qualifying.

But in Q3, Leclerc’s fast lap fell apart.

As he rounded a corner heading into Turn 6, he found the Racing Bulls machine of Isack Hadjar in his path. As Leclerc tells it, the presence of another car disturbed the air on the front of his car and caused his car to cock to the side.

He was able to keep his Ferrari out of the wall, but Leclerc had to content himself with an eighth-place starting position after losing out on his final shot to secure a better starting position.

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Charles Leclerc was clearly exasperated as he spoke to F1TV in the media pen.

“The pace was there,” he said.

“I think the car was good enough for pole, but I f*cked it up completely.”

After pointing out that he had just climbed out of the car and was still “very annoyed,” Leclerc went on to explain exactly where his lap went wrong.

“I don’t know if it was the right thing or not to go out early,” he said.

“We ended up having Isack in the middle of turn six or seven — in the middle. He was 100 meters in front, but with these cars and on a track like this, you lose all the grip.”

He said it was a “shame” because, even though he’d only turned a few laps in qualifying, Leclerc knew the car was strong. All he could conclude was that “we haven’t maximised anything.”

Asked by Lawrence Barretto if there’s any hope for Sunday thanks to the pace he saw in practice, Leclerc was blunt.

“No, it’s irrelevant. When you do that in qualifying, there’s nothing that gives me satisfaction,” he said.

From the F1TV chat, Leclerc headed over to the print media pen, where he confirmed that his FP1 crash had “zero” impact on his qualifying performance. The big problem was dirty air.

“On the track like this with the walls, it’s like Monaco, it’s like some other tracks, where it’s always trickier with the dirty air,” he explained.

That being said, he also declined to take any swipes at Isack Hadjar for the situation.

“I don’t think he’s done anything wrong,” Leclerc said, “but you know how it is.

“I mean, sometimes depending on where you are catching a car, then this can start a big influence on the lap. He had a huge influence on me.”

Still, for Leclerc, not all hope is lost. With the speed in the car, he feels that a podium finish is a possibility — “but it all depends on how quickly we are going to get past the others.”

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