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leclerc balks at himself and crash in miami

Leclerc 'really disappointed' with himself: 'Unacceptable'

6 May 2023 at 23:17
Last update 6 May 2023 at 23:29
  • GPblog.com

Charles Leclerc has donned the penitence after his crash in qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver criticised himself and believes he should never have crashed off the track at that point during Q3 in the United States.

"I think what is unacceptable is doing the same mistake in the same corner twicer," Leclerc told Sky Sports. The Monegasque also went into the wall in roughly the same spot during free practice on Friday. "This I am really disappointed with myself. You can always find excuses in those situation, the wind was strong, the set-up was tricky, but I put myself in these conditions."

There is nothing to blame Ferrari or the car in this matter, Leclerc believes. "I wanted this set up, I knew it would be tricky but I thought I would be able to extract the maximum out of the car in Q3 which is one of my strong points. I know I am taking more risk than others in Q3 and that's why I'm doing good Q3s most of the time. Very disappointed with myself, I made the same mistake yesterday and this shouldn't happen."

It remains to be seen whether the SF23's gearbox survived the impact. If not, Leclerc will not be able to start from seventh place. A start from the pit lane is also definitely a possibility.