Charles Leclerc told Ferrari his rivals behind had a “huge advantage” at the restart moments before he crashed out of the race.
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The Ferrari driver said he was worried those catching him would benefit from warmer tyres. When the race resumed he ran wide at the final corner and struck the barrier, ending his race.
Leclerc’s retirement followed a Safety Car period triggered when Lance Stroll crashed at the same corner a few laps earlier. Ferrari brought both cars into the pits during the Safety Car, a decision that meant Leclerc had to queue behind his team mate Lewis Hamilton, who was carrying a five-second time penalty.
Leclerc questioned the call and made his frustration clear over the radio:
| Lap: 60/78 LEC: 2’01.657 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | And mode Safety Car. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | Do not catch the Safety Car later, Charles. So we want to wait. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leclerc | Approaching the pit lane entry What do I do? |
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| Bozzi | Box, box, box. We need to wait. Leclerc pulls into the pits behind Hamilton |
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| Leclerc | But why the hell are we pitting? Why aren’t we staying out? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 61/78 LEC: 1’55.305 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leclerc | I don’t even know where I am, I honestly, at that point, I know we need to become better, but for fuck’s sake, why are you not letting me out? No response from Bozzi broadcast |
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| Leclerc | I didn’t even understand your explanation, to be honest. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Before the restart, drivers who had been a lap down—most of the field—were allowed back onto the lead lap. Because the Safety Car was circulating slowly, Leclerc grew concerned about falling tyre temperatures and suggested another pit stop to have warmer tyres for the restart. His race engineer Bryan Bozzi warned that pitting again would cost places because the other drivers were closing on the queue rapidly:
| Lap: 64/78 LEC: 2’04.443 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leclerc | The Safety Car needs to push now, it’s a joke. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | So Charles, correction, it’s now Hadjar behind, but he’ll catch you on used hards, P4 and then Russell P5 with used soft. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leclerc | It’s a huge advantage for them. We are behind the Safety Car and he is so slow. Honestly, we should box next lap. If we have the gap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 65/78 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bozzi | No Charles, we can’t. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leclerc | Okay. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When the race went green, Leclerc ran wide at the Anthony Noghes corner. He slammed his steering wheel in frustration and radioed: “I’m not going to take the fucking blame. These fucking brakes.”
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After the crash Leclerc described his feelings as “extremely disappointed, sad and angry” at losing a podium finish at his home Grand Prix. While the corner’s degrading surface likely played a part, he attributed the incident to persistent braking problems he has battled since the previous race.
“I don’t know how much I can go into the details, but it’s just not acceptable,” he said. “The issues I’ve faced with my brakes have been – it’s not that it’s difficult, it’s that in this particular moment it’s just impossible.
“I cannot do anything. The only thing I can do is not brake for the last corner, but in a Formula 1 car not braking in the last corner, [you] end up in the wall anyway. So I put the least amount of braking I could possibly do and it’s not even braking, it’s leaning my foot on the brake.
“The rear brakes were not working at all – so I don’t know if there was an issue there or if it’s just the inconsistency I get – and the front delivered a lot more than what it should so that’s what happened.”
Despite the recent brake troubles, Leclerc said he was reluctant to change the car’s setup at a circuit that demands confidence under braking and where the risk of an incident is high.
“We have a fix,” he added. “We have different configurations between cars and I think we’ve found a solution. So that is positive.
“I didn’t really want to change this weekend and for that maybe I am to blame in a way. I thought that on a track like this in Monaco it was good to start with brakes that I knew. But considering the issues I’ve dealt with and that there are no solutions on a track like this, there’s not much to say.”
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