Leclerc laments 'disastrous' season after Australian GP retirement

Sam Hall
Sunday 2 April 2023 09:42

Charles Leclerc has slated his start to the campaign as being "a disaster" following his lap one retirement from the Australian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver started from seventh at Albert Park but was unable to translate this into a points score after being spun into the gravel at turn three by Fernando Alonso.

Although the Spaniard was initially investigated by the FIA stewards, he was later cleared after replays showed he had nowhere to go with his Aston Martin team-mate, Lance Stroll, on the inside of the three-wide battle.

This latest disappointment adds to a miserable start of the year for Leclerc after his retirement in Bahrain and a grid penalty in Saudi Arabia.

“It shouldn’t happen so often," Leclerc told Canal+.

"In three races, we haven't had a good start to the season. It has just (been) a disaster.

"When we were third in Bahrain, we broke the ‘control unit (electronics)’, the penalty in Jeddah and now another retirement, so it’s really not the start of the season I was hoping for.”

Leclerc absolves Alonso

Asked for his assessment of the incident, Leclerc added: “Quite honestly, at the first corner I tried to watch out for Lance because I knew he might open up a little bit on the exit, which I would have done too. So I stayed where I was.

"Then, at turn three, I saw that Lance was blocked by Fernando, so he braked a bit early.

"I saw some space on the left, (so) I went for it, and unfortunately at the end of the braking zone, Lance found himself between Fernando who had to slow down for the cars in front with his front wing. So he couldn’t turn as I imagined and unfortunately we had contact.

"The result is that we don’t get a point, so it hurts.”

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