Second row and second Ferrari
There was no repeat of 2024 for Charles Leclerc in Monaco, at least in Qualifying. In fact, the Monegasque Ferrari driver was perhaps the biggest disappointment – along with George Russell – of Q3 in the Principality. After the Ferrari had seemed the best car during the free practice sessions, at the decisive moment Leclerc missed the mark, making several errors – including a hard hit to the right rear in the final attempt which caused the suspension to break – and not going beyond fourth fastest, behind not only Antonelli and Verstappen, but also his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Read more Ferrari disappointment in Monaco, Hamilton: “Mercedes took a step forward, we took a step back”
“I am very disappointed, more than anything – declared the red #16 to Spanish TV DAZN – the impact against the wall broke my rear suspension and, to be honest, I am not very surprised because for two weekends now I haven’t felt comfortable with the car, particularly with the brakes. It’s a problem we know about and we hope to be able to solve it on my side for Barcelona, but so far it has been very complicated. When things are like this, it’s difficult to find references that change from one lap to the next, and in Q3 here I never leave myself much margin: I pushed and pushed too much and paid the price“.
Brakes and tires
To Sky Italia, Leclerc then added: “The problem is not the sensitivity of the car, it’s a very specific problem I’ve had on my side since the Canadian weekend. Brakes? I won’t go into detail, but right now I’m struggling a lot. I think we have the solution, but for various reasons I didn’t want to try this solution here in Monaco, as it’s a track where I thought I would regain confidence, which I haven’t been able to do since FP1. In Q3 I tried. I’m not afraid to say when I make a mistake, but I think this time [the result] depended on several things: I had two or three cars a bit ahead and the downforce wasn’t exactly the same; furthermore, it was the second lap on the tire, so I had tires that were too hot and I also tried to carry a bit more speed. I don’t have confidence in this car at the moment. It was going very well up to that point, I always give my all anyway, but when there’s no confidence, it’s too risky. Comeback at the start? I thought about it, but I see it as very difficult for us to reach the level of those ahead tomorrow, but I hope so“.
Finally, to the media journalists present in the mixed zone in Monaco, Leclerc insisted on the tire issue: “The problem was the tires and then something else – he reiterated – the last lap I was really on the limit and I think up to that point it had been a great lap. But I didn’t complete it, so it’s a bit useless to say it. Anyway, yes, it had been a good lap. I found some dirt where I lost control, at turn 12. There wasn’t traffic itself. There was just some dirt and it made me lose a bit of grip on entry“.
