Leclerc receives Monaco apology from Ferrari
That qualifying mix-up wrecked his race.
Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri has issued a public apology to Charles Leclerc after his Monaco Grand Prix was compromised by the team's ruinous qualifying strategy. Leclerc was eliminated in Q1 at his home race after Ferrari kept him in the garage while times tumbled.
Leclerc started the race 15th on the grid, with few chances to overtake around Monte Carlo's narrow streets.
The Monegasque took an all-or-nothing approach to making up places, pulling off nice overtakes on Lando Norris and Romain Grosjean.
Having mugged the Haas man into La Rascasse, he tried a similar move on Nico Hulkenberg soon after, but clipped the barrier and punctured his right-rear tyre, with a subsequent three-wheeled tour of the track causing significant floor damage and his retirement after just 18 laps.
After the race, Leclerc labelled his weekend a "disaster" and said he would seek answers from the team for the qualifying mix-up.
Camilleri said: "We sincerely apologise to him.
"The bottom line is that this type of incident cannot happen again. Unfortunately these are things that can happen, as long as they do not happen again.
"It was a mistake on the part of the team and we understood it. Now we have to forget what happened and do everything we can to close the gap on Mercedes."
Leclerc's retirement continued an extraordinary run of dismal form in his home event, having failed to finish any of the four races he has entered in Monaco in Formula 2 and F1.
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