Leclerc, Ferrari, Monaco — Photo: © LAT Images

Monaco Grand Prix

Leclerc claims Monaco crash was “part of the game”

Ferrari driver does not regret costly qualifying push

Ian Parkes & Will Gray

Tuesday 25 May 2021 08:00

Charles Leclerc has insisted to having few regrets about his Monaco Grand Prix qualifying crash, declaring it “part of the game” when driving around the streets of Monte Carlo.

The Monégasque driver crashed in the closing seconds of the final Saturday session shortly after setting the fastest lap, severely damaging his Ferrari in the process.

After sitting out most of FP1 with a gearbox issue, Leclerc then failed to start the race due to a left-driveshaft failure on his Ferrari the team has since confirmed was as a legacy of his barrier-bashing moment.

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Reflecting on his “bad luck” weekend Leclerc said: “You can always learn when things aren’t going the way you want, but I feel like I did a good job anyway.

“FP1 was not easy to miss. Then I recovered quite well in FP2 and had a nice qualifying in general, but then in the last attempt of Q3 I tried a bit too much and went into the wall, which are things that can happen in Monaco.

“It has happened in the past and many times I am very harsh with myself, but if there was any time in the weekend that I had to push, especially in Q3 in Monaco, it’s part of the game. I am not too harsh on myself for that one.”

Leclerc happy for Ferrari team-mate Sainz

Carlos Sainz secured second place in the race for Ferrari, a pointer as to what could have been had the mechanical issues not prevented Leclerc from starting on pole.

Leclerc, who lives in Monaco, stood under the podium after the race, celebrating Sainz’s success with the team, but conceded it could have been the team’s best chance for a win all season.

“It’s difficult because it’s at home, it’s not every day we have the chance to be in such a good place,” he added. “But at the end it’s like this, it’s part of motorsport and these things can happen.

“What I will try to remember from this weekend is all the positive signs we’ve had. We are coming back from quite far if we see last year, so we’ve done a good job by improving races after races.

“Here it might be a one-off to be fighting for the win but it doesn’t mean there has been no progress, so we are on the good road, we are working well, eventually the luck was not on my side this weekend but it’s life.

“I will get over it and I will think about Baku. I am very motivated to be back in the car and to hopefully have a very good result soon.”