A dejected Charles Leclerc admitted it must be difficult for fans to keep faith with him after he crashed out during qualifying in Spain.
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Six days after his incident in the Monaco Grand Prix, Leclerc slid into the barrier at the start of Q3 and will therefore start tomorrow’s race from 10th on the grid.
“I’m okay, apart from feeling very ashamed of coming here to speak in front of the camera after another ‘what if’,” Leclerc said after qualifying. “Last week it was ‘what if we didn’t have that issue’, and this weekend it’s ‘what if I didn’t make that mistake’.”
Ferrari arrived in Barcelona with a significant upgrade package. Lewis Hamilton put the upgraded Ferrari on the front row, splitting the Mercedes, which made Leclerc all the more disappointed about the opportunity he missed.
“I just feel ashamed of not putting everything together on what has been a very positive weekend so far,” he added. “The feeling with the car is back and I’m still optimistic for tomorrow, but I should be starting higher up the grid and I’m not because of a mistake of mine.
“I feel ashamed and disappointed. I feel ashamed for letting down so many people who support us — it must be tough for them to stick with me.”
Leclerc said the upgraded car felt strong across most of the lap, but turn four — where he lost control — was a particular weakness for him.
“The Q2 lap was really good. In most corners we were the strongest or close to it, and turn four felt like the weak point for me. I released the brakes and carried a bit more speed into the corner, which was fine in the middle of the turn, but I ended up on the dirtier part of the track and lost the car.
“There are no excuses — it was a mistake.”
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