“Ashamed” Charles Leclerc explains costly qualifying crash at F1 Barcelona GP

Charles Leclerc says he feels “ashamed” after crashing out of Formula 1 qualifying at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

The Monegasque was one of the contenders for pole position in Barcelona in his upgraded Ferrari but crashed on his first lap in the final part of qualifying and will start Sunday’s race 10th as a result.

Leclerc was trying to correct a slide out of Turn 4 when his Ferrari snapped on him and sent him spearing off into the barriers on the opposite side of the track, causing Q3 to be red-flagged.

Explaining what happened to media including Crash.net after qualifying, a despondent Leclerc said: “I tried to release the brakes earlier, trying to carry more speed as I knew it was the main weakness, if not the only weakness, because we were very fast on all corners.

“Tried to carry more speed in, which worked out, but then I went on traction on the dirty side of the track and lost the rear. There’s not much to excuse myself.”

Leclerc has moved to the same brake configuration as team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona, by switching from Brembo to Carbon Industrie materials.

Asked by Crash.net if the crash had anything to do with his recent struggles under braking, Leclerc replied: “No, there is none of that. I adapted very well straight from FP2, I felt very at ease with it and there is nothing on that.

“There is no excuses on trying to find a reference or whatever. I feel very ashamed. After the last three weekends which have been particularly difficult for me to find pace for issues that I had, today and this weekend felt really, really good.

“In these days I need to deliver and I didn’t, so I feel very ashamed in general.”

Hamilton was narrowly pipped to pole position in the other Ferrari by Mercedes’ George Russell as he secured his first front-row start since the 2024 British Grand Prix.

Knowing the potential of his car, a disappointed Leclerc expects he will be able to recover positions in the race.

“I think we can do great. I think we can come back, so I am optimistic for tomorrow but for now the illusion of quali is all I can think of,” he said.

Ferrari unleashed an extensive set of upgrades in Barcelona and Leclerc confirmed they are working as hoped.

“It felt good. The upgrade was a significant step forward, so that was good,” he added.