Charles Leclerc despondent after qualifying crash at Barcelona-Catalunya GP

After a “mistake” ended his qualifying session at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, a despondent Charles Leclerc admitted to feeling “ashamed and disappointed” about the error that cut his Q3 session short.

Ferrari brought a significant upgrade package to the track this weekend, which helped Lewis Hamilton put his car on the front row of the grid alongside pole-sitter George Russell. But Leclerc, six days after a crash ended his chances at the Monaco Grand Prix, slid into a barrier at Turn 4 early in the final segment of qualifying, eliminating any chance of qualifying up front.

Speaking with the official F1 channel after the session, Leclerc addressed yet another “what if” after a tough session.

“I’m okay, apart from feeling very ashamed of coming here to speak in front of the camera after another ‘what if’,” said Leclerc. “Unfortunately, last week was the same with ‘what if we didn’t have that issue’, this weekend is ‘what if I didn’t do that mistake’.

“I just feel ashamed of not putting everything together on what was a very positive weekend so far,” he added. “The feeling is back and I’m still optimistic for tomorrow but I should be starting higher up and I don’t because of a mistake of mine.

“I feel ashamed and disappointed, I mean I feel ashamed for disappointing so many people that are supporting us and it must be tough to stick with me.”

Here is the moment that ended his qualifying run:

Leclerc also detailed what happened during that moment.

“The Q2 lap was really good, I think all corners we were the strongest or nearly and turn four was the weak corner for me,” described Leclerc. “So I released the brakes, I carried quite a lot more speed in, which was okay in mid-corner but I ended up on the dirtier part of the track and lost the car.

“But there’s no excuses, it’s a mistake.”

Leclerc is set to start tenth tomorrow.