Leclerc explodes after another disaster at home: “It is unacceptable, this car is impossible to drive”
The local hero’s weekend turned into a real nightmare. Charles Leclerc arrived at the Monaco Grand Prix with the hope of shining in front of his fans after showing a very competitive pace during free practice, but everything began to go wrong since qualifying.
The pilot of Ferrari seemed to have the potential to fight for pole, but a mistake in his last attempt left him against the barriers and relegated to the fourth position on the grid. However, that would be just the beginning of a weekend to forget.
During the race, Leclerc managed to stay in the fight for podium positions and even fought for second place. Nevertheless, A strategic decision by Ferrari ended up conditioning its result and left him without real options to progress. Later, after a neutralization and subsequent relaunch, everything ended in the worst possible way: a severe brake problem took him directly into the wallcausing his abandonment in the face of fans who watched in disbelief as their driver was once again left home without a reward.
After the race, Leclerc appeared visibly affected and did not hide his frustration.
“I’m not the type of driver who makes excuses.. I have always been the first to admit when I make a mistake and I have no problem admitting it. But today I have no words. Honestly, I don’t even feel like talking too much because I might say things I’d regret. What is happening is unacceptable. The brake problems I had in Canada and here make the car practically impossible to drive“
The Monegasque explained that the situation has worsened during the last two races and that the behavior of the brakes prevents him from having any type of confidence behind the wheel.
“It’s not a question of control. The problem is that it is impossible to have control. Brakes work like a switch: either they do nothing or they block completely. I’ve been suffering from exactly the same thing for two weekends.. Today I had extreme settings to try to compensate for it and still the rear brakes practically didn’t work.”
The situation reached its most critical point after the appearance of the safety car. According to Leclerc, it was at that point that the system stopped responding completely.
“The problem started behind the Safety Car. As soon as we started to roll slowly, three of the four brakes stopped working. I no longer had anything. The only solution was to practically not brake in the last corner, but then I would have crashed in Turn 1.”
The Ferrari driver also revealed his disagreement with one of the team’s strategic decisions during the race. Leclerc wanted to stay on the track, convinced that his tires still had enough life to continue.
“I wanted to stay out. The tires were working well and, above all, he didn’t want to waste time waiting behind Lewis in the pit lane. The FIA had warned us before the race that we could not slow down the speed excessively in the pits.. I had to do it anyway, but honestly that’s a minor detail compared to the hell I’ve experienced both in Montreal and here.”
Unlike on other occasions, Leclerc made it clear that this time he does not intend to take any responsibility for what happened.
“I have always been very honest. I hate looking in the mirror and making excuses when I make a mistake. If I’m wrong, I’m the first to say it in front of the cameras. But today I am not going to take any responsibility.”
The Monegasque pilot even described the situation as a safety problem.
“Today I look like an idiot because I ended up against the wall, but when you look like an idiot because of your own mistake, that’s one thing.. When it happens because of something like that, it’s different. Honestly, we are talking about a situation that is close to being dangerous.”
“I’m extremely frustrated, extremely angry and extremely sad. This is my home, it is the career that means the most to me. The hardest thing is that today I am not angry with myself. And that makes everything even more difficult“
