‘Unacceptable’ to make same mistake twice - Leclerc

Charles Leclerc says he is "very disappointed" with himself and has branded his crash in qualifying at the F1 Miami Grand Prix as “unacceptable”.

Lewis Larkam

06 May 2023

Knowing he needed to deliver on his final run of Q3 after wrecking his first flying lap with a lock-up, Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari through the high-speed Turn 6 and spun into the barriers.

The shunt, Leclerc’s second in as many days, caused a late red flag which prematurely ended qualifying with no time left to resume the session.

“What’s unacceptable is doing twice the same mistake in the same corner and I am really disappointed in myself,” Leclerc told Sky.

“You can always find excuses in those situations. The wind was really strong, it was really tricky.

“The set-up of the car was really tricky also, but I put myself in this condition. I wanted this set-up and I knew it would be tricky.

“But I thought I would be able to extract the maximum out of the car in Q3, which is normally one of my strong points.

“I know that I’m also taking more risks others probably in Q3 and that is why most of the time I’m doing good Q3’s, but this is too much.

“Very disappointed in myself. I did the same mistake yesterday and this shouldn’t happen.”

A head-spinning twist at the climax of qualifying #MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/bC4jZy1qOe
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 6, 2023

Asked if he is putting too much pressure on himself to maximise the performance of his Ferrari, Leclerc said: “I don’t think so.

“It’s enough most of the time but this weekend I did too much and I cannot hide my disappointment.”

Despite the incident, Leclerc is set to line-up seventh on the grid for Sunday’s race in Miami.

“I don’t know exactly where we are going to be but a podium would be a really good finish tomorrow considering our race pace,” Leclerc said of Ferrari’s chances.