Ferrari F1 star triggers red flag with crash at Canadian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Bahrain, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Canadian Grand Prix

Ferrari star triggers red flag with crash at Canadian Grand Prix

The Canadian GP got underway with FP1

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 13 June 2025 20:05 Updated: 00:53

Charles Leclerc suffered a huge shunt during FP1 at the Canadian Grand Prix, locking up heading into Turn 3 and slamming into the barrier.

The Ferrari F1 star wrecked the whole left-hand side of his car, leaving his team with a huge repair job ahead of FP2 later in the day.

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Leclerc's crash into the second chicane also caused a red flag, with a delay to proceedings during the first practice session of the weekend after just 15 minutes of running.

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur implied shortly after FP1 that the 27-year-old would not be able to compete in FP2 as a result of the damage caused from the incident.

"**** sorry, I’m in the wall," Leclerc said on his team radio after the crash. "Yeah my bad, I should’ve gone straight. I thought I will just made it but I clipped the wall."

The crash caused a 10-minute delay to practice, which was not good news for the six drivers on the grid that have never driven an F1 car around the iconic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before.

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Following rumours during the week about team principal Fred Vasseur's future with the team, Ferrari would have been hoping for smooth running on Friday to try and get dialled in to the Montreal track.

Leclerc was top of the timesheets when he crashed out of the session, but his error meant he missed the rest of FP1 and FP2.

Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok described the incident in more detail, and what Leclerc meant by 'I should've gone straight'.

"He's completely locked up and hit the barrier on the left," Chandhok said during FP1. "Just carried way too much speed and snatched the front, then you're just a passenger.

"It's a horrible feeling. You see the wall and there's nothing you can do."

"By trying to not abandon the lap he’s ended up doing the opposite," the former F1 driver concluded.

Ferrari Charles Leclerc Canadian Grand Prix red flag